Gujarat wants to issue new notification on ban on Jaswant Singh’s Jinnah book

The government of Gujarat wants to issue a new notification  regarding the ban it has enforced on the controversial book titled Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence, written by Jaswant Singh, expelled BJP leader. The Gujarat government argued that it banned Jaswant Singh’s book on account of the “defamatory references” in it to Vallabhbhai Patel, the first home minister of India.

During the hearing of a petition filed in the Gujarat High Court challenging the Gujarat government’s action banning the book, the State’s Additional Advocate-General cited an example where the government of Delhi had banned a book written by Gopal Godse, brother of Nathuram Godse.

The special bench headed by Chief Justice K S Radhakrishnan said, “We are hear to judge this notification (issued on August 19)…we are not concerned with the improved notification at this moment.”

On August 31, 2009, the special bench of the Gujarat high court had refused the Gujarat government’s request for two days’ time to file a reply.

“The high court can’t go beyond the content of the notification and look into the affidavit. The Supreme Court has observed that the validity of the notification is to be tested only on the bases stated in the notification and not otherwise,” said chief justice Radhakrishnan.

The government banned Jaswant Singh’s book two days after it was released at a function in New Delhi, on August 17, 2009.

Jaswant Singh himself has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the ban on his book.

The public-interest litigation petition challenged the “constitutionality and validity” of the Gujarat government’s notification banning the publication, sale, and distribution of the book Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence, in Gujarat.

The ban on the book was also challenged on technical grounds that the Gujarat government’s notification did not give reasons for its action and that there was “nothing in the book that could cause disharmony between two groups.”

Upon which Chief Justice Radhakrishnan was quoted as saying, “This (notification) must show application of mind. There are mere words here and there.”

Meanwhile, the BJP has been pressurizing Jaswant Singh to step down from the post of chairperson of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament saying that Singh was nominated for the post because he was part of the opposition party.

Singh, on his part, has responded by saying that he will not quit and that the right to decide who should be PAC chairperson rested with the Lok Sabha Speaker, and not a political party.