Legal brief

Delhi HC scraps plea to ban Salman Khurshid's book

• The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking direction to the Centre and Delhi govt to ban the sale and publication of Congress leader Salman Khurshid's book “Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood In Our Times”.
• A bench pulled up the petitioner for not impleading the author of the book or publication house as a party to the plea, saying he was a chance-taking petitioner who has filed the plea for publicity.
• After sometime, the petitioner's counsel sought permission to withdraw the petition and file a fresh one with proper averments, annexures and joining proper persons as parties.
• The court allowed him to withdraw the petition and disposed it of as withdrawn.
• It is said there are 90 crore Hindus in the country and if anyone takes offence of statements on Hindutva made in the book, it could become a law and order problem in the society.
• While declining interim relief, the trial court had said the author and publisher had the right to write and publish the book.