Gujarat High Court has lifted the ban on Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah. The judgment starts with a quote by Francis Bacon, Lord Chancellor of England and a renowned Jurist:

Read not to contradict and confute; not to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider. Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.

The entire judgment can be read here. I was anxious whether the Gujarat Government would rely on the Supreme Court’s justification to ban the Kannada novel, Dharmakaarana, but was relieved to find that neither the State Government, nor the HC thought it proper to consider the SC’s judgment in Sri Baragur Ramachandrappa case as having laid down the correct legal position. I assume so because the HC’s judgment does not refer to this case at all, while it cites other relevant cases. It appears the State Government will issue a fresh notification to ban the book, filling the deficiencies pointed out by the High Court. Therefore, the outcome of Jaswant Singh’s petition against the ban, coming up in the Supreme court on September 7 will be interesting to follow.
[Readers can read some of our earlier posts on the issue here.]