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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Two women died, 6 taken ill after ‘consuming’ mango kernel gruel in Odisha
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur/Phulbani, Nov 1: At least two tribal women died and six others fell ill after allegedly consuming mango kernel gruel in Odisha's Kandhamal district, police said on Friday.
Consumption of mango kernel, prepared by boiling the seeds in water, was reported from Mandipanka village in the district's Daringbadi block, an officer said.
While one of the two women (Rasmita Pattamajhi aged 22) died on Thursday night at Mohana community health centre in Gajapati district where she was undergoing treatment after "consuming the gruel", another woman (Runu Majhi aged 29) breathed her last while being taken to MKCG Medical College Hospital in Berhampur, Gadapur sarpanch Kumari Mallick said.
Six others, who fell ill after allegedly consuming the gruel, were admitted to a hospital and their condition was critical, said Dr Subrat Das, a medical officer of the health facility.
"All the six have been admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. We suspected that they fell sick due to food poisoning. The exact cause of the illness will be ascertained after completion of the investigation," he added.
The six were identified as Pravati Patmajhi, Dranglu Patmajhi, Tuni Majhi, Susama Patmajhi, Jita Majhi and Jibanti Majhi, Daringbadi BDO Pritiranjan Ratha said.
Meanwhile, the Odisha government has rejected allegations that tribal people have been consuming mango kernel gruel due to a lack of access to rice under the Public Distribution System (PDS).
Rasmita's husband Anil Pattamajhi alleged that they were denied rice under PDS for the last three months because of which his wife consumed mango kernel.
However, Kandhamal district magistrate-cum-collector Amrit Ruturaj dismissed the allegations, saying the family received rice according to PDS norms. "We are awaiting the postmortem report to determine the facts," the collector added.
Deputy chief minister Pravati Parida, who is also in-charge of the women and child development department said, "It is not a case of malnutrition. Mango kernel is part of their (tribal) regular diet. Sometime, the mango kernels get contaminated and lead to such unfortunate incidents. We have been actively spreading awareness about the risks of food contamination."
Health and family welfare minister Mukesh Mahaling, who ordered a departmental inquiry into the death of two tribal women, said a team from the district headquarters hospital and another local team are at the spot to assess the situation and conduct a detailed probe into the incident.
Mahaling said that the government was waiting for the postmortem report for a confirmation on the cause of the deaths. "People in Kandhamal consume mango kernel. It is common in that region and there also have been reports of health complications linked to it in the past," he said.
The Kandhmal incident reminds a similar tragedy involving mango kernel deaths in Kashipur block of Rayagada district, where at least 20 people died in 2001, and two more succumbed to mango kernel consumption in 2016. Additionally, mango kernel has claimed lives in Laxmipur in Koraput district in 2012 and 2013, as well as in Jharigaon in Nabarangpur district in 2018.
