Salman Rushdie’s extremely controversial novel The Satanic Verses, which was banned in India in 1988, can now be sold in the country – all because of a bureaucratic lapse. The Delhi High Court was forced to overturn the 36-year-old import ban on Salman Rushdie’s magic realism novel as the original notification of the customs department pertaining to the ban is ‘missing’. On November 5, the Court ordered that such a notification “does not exist”, perhaps finally paving the way for sales in India of the book. A ban on the import of The Satanic Verses was imposed in the country in 1988 due to “blasphemy” accusations and death threats by orthodox Muslim leaders. 

According to Live Law, a division bench comprising Justice Rekha Palli and Justice Saurabh Banerjee noted that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) had been unable to produce the notification since 2019, when a writ petition challenging it was filed. The Court said that: “In the light of the aforesaid circumstances, we have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists, and therefore, we cannot examine the validity thereof and dispose of the writ petition as infructuous,” Live Law further reports. 

The court also ruled that the petitioner is now “entitled to take all actions in respect of the said book as available in law,” according to Live Mint. 

The novel involves pre-Islamic goddesses and Islamic themes including Prophet Mohammad and the archangel Gabriel—a significant figure in Judeo-Christianity as well. 

The Satanic Verses drew the ire of Muslim leaders in India and across the world after its publication in 1988, with many branding the book ‘blasphemous’. Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (death warrant) against Rushdie. The book’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was also stabbed to death.

Following death threats, Rushdie had to seek refuge in London. And in India, late Janata Party MP Syed Shahabuddin and Khurshid and late Congress leader Alam Khan demanded a ban. 

The writ petition against the CBIC had been filed by an individual named Sandipan Khan, who was reportedly seeking to import the book directly from the publishers. According to The Independent, Sandipan pointed out in his petition that the ban was beyond the powers (ultra víres) of the Indian Constitution. Interestingly, prior to this petition, he had reportedly filed an RTI in 2017 requesting a copy of the notification only to be told that it could not be produced. 

In 2022, Rushdie was stabbed at the Chautauqua Institution in New York by a man identified as Hadi Matar—a loyalist to Shia extremism. The author was stabbed in the neck in front of an audience of 7500 people. Rushdie fortunately survived the horrific attack after undergoing intensive surgery, but lost an eye. 

Also read: 

In Knife, author Salman Rushdie movingly reflects on the attack that cost him an eye 

Why Salman Rushdie's ‘The The Satanic Verses’ is considered controversial