The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the Rajiv Gandhi government’s 1988 ban on the importation of Salman Rushdie’s controversial novel The Satanic Verses. The court noted that since the authorities were unable to provide the relevant notification, it must be presumed that it does not exist.

In an order issued on November 5, a bench headed by Justice Rekha Palli noted that the petition, pending since 2019, had become infructuous. The court said the petitioner remained entitled to pursue any action regarding the book to the extent permitted by law. In 1988, the importation of the book “The Satanic Verses” was banned on public order grounds after Muslims around the world called it “blasphemous.”

During the hearing, petitioner Sandipan Khan argued that he was unable to import the book due to a “ban” notification issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, but that ‘it was not accessible on any official website nor available from the relevant authorities.

“What emerges is that none of the respondents could produce the said notification dated 05.10.1988 with which the petitioner is allegedly aggrieved and in fact the alleged maker of the said notification has also shown his helplessness by producing a copy of the said notification during the pendency of the present petition since its filing in 2019,” observed the bench, also comprising Justice Saurabh Banerjee.

“In light of the above-mentioned circumstances, we have no choice but to presume that no such notice exists and, therefore, we cannot examine its validity and consider the petition unsuccessful,” he concluded.

Besides challenging the ban notice, the petitioner had sought to quash other related directions issued by the Home Ministry in 1988.

The petition also asked for instructions to allow him to import the book from his publisher or international e-commerce sites.

During court proceedings, authorities said the notice could not be found and therefore could not be produced.