Culture of banning books impacts free flow of ideas: SC
New Delhi, Aug 2 : The Supreme Court on Thursday said the culture of banning books impacts the free flow of ideas and should not be taken recourse to unless they are hit by Section 292 of the IPC that prohibits obscenity.
Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud reserved their order on a plea seeking to omit certain excerpts from the controversial Malayalam novel "Meesha" written by author S. Hareesh.
"You are giving undue importance to this kind of stuff. In the age of Internet, you are making this an issue. It is best forgotten," said Justice Chandrachud.
The court gave expression to its apparent reluctance to interfere with the passage being sought to be taken off as counsel Gopal Shankarayanan told the court that the passage makes insinuations against the priestly class.
Reserving the order, the court asked the newspaper which had carried the controversial passages to submit a note within five days - giving the theme of the book and the three parts of the book carried by the newspaper translated into English.
The court said that fictional characters in the novel were talking about male chauvinism and Additional Solicitor General Pinki Anand said that it was freedom of speech.
Following threats from rightwing outfits, the author got support from political circles, including former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
The novel has been published by DC Books and is now available in bookstores across Kerala.
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Dy CM Shivakumar confident of Congress win in Karnataka bypolls
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Saturday expressed confidence that the ruling Congress will secure a decisive victory in the Assembly bypolls scheduled for April 9 in the Bagalkote and Davanagere South constituencies, citing a favourable ground response to the party’s guarantee schemes.
These are ‘Shakti’, ‘Gruha Lakshmi’, ‘Gruha Jyoti’, ‘Yuva Nidhi’ and ‘Anna Bhagya’.
The bypolls were necessitated by the demise of sitting Congress MLAs Shamanur Shivashankarappa and H Y Meti, who represented Davanagere South and Bagalkote constituencies, respectively.
The Congress has fielded Shivashankarappa’s grandson, Samarth Shamanur, in Davanagere South and Umesh Meti in Bagalkote. They are locked in direct contests with BJP candidates T Dasakariyappa and Veerabhadrayya Charantimath.
“Both Bagalkote and Davanagere are very positive. Congress workers are doing an excellent job, going door to door and convincing people about the guarantee schemes,” Shivakumar told reporters here.
He said even voters who had earlier supported the BJP were now inclined towards the Congress.
“Even those who voted for the BJP earlier are saying they will vote for Congress. People want the guarantees to continue and are expressing difficulties due to rising prices,” he said.
Expressing confidence of an improved electoral performance, he added, “There is a strong sense that we will win with a bigger margin than before.”
Shivakumar also said he would travel to Kerala for two days and resume campaigning thereafter. “I am going to Kerala for two days. After returning, we will continue the campaign from Davanagere,” he said.
Referring to the shortage of LPG, including auto LPG, in the state, Shivakumar blamed the BJP-led government and called for immediate intervention by the Centre.
“The LPG shortage is due to the BJP. Auto drivers and those in the transport sector are facing difficulties,” he claimed.
“This is something the central government has to address. It must formulate proper policies and take precautionary measures,” he said, adding that the BJP should apologise to the public.
“They should come forward and apologise to the people for the inconvenience caused and resolve the issues they have created,” he said.
