A high court in New Delhi has ruled that a ban on importing Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses can no longer be enforced, due to the Indian government’s inability to find the original 1988 customs notification. This was not a change of heart by authorities or a challenge to constitutional rights, but rather a case of lost documentation. India was the first country to ban the book, following warnings from Muslim groups that it was blasphemous. The import ban was lifted, but the government still seeks to prohibit the book’s publication and distribution within the country.
Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-11-15/india-s-ban-on-the-satanic-verses-gets-a-rushdie-esque-twist