Karnataka HC's Order Upholding The Ban On Mate Mahadevi's Book Is In Consonance With Law, Says SC [Read Order]

On September 20, the Supreme Court bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and L.Nageswara Rao dismissed the Kannada author and scholar, Mate Mahadevi's petition against the Karnataka High Court's order upholding the Karnataka Government's ban on her book, Basava Vachana Deepthi, without a reasoned order, after hearing arguments for two days. The Karnataka Government had imposed a ban on the book in 1998 on the ground that it was likely to outrage the religious feelings of Lord Basavanna's followers.

The non-reasoned order, which has been uploaded on Thursday, holds that the High Court's order upholding the ban is in consonance with law.

During the arguments, the bench referred to the recent incidents of violence following the conviction and sentencing of the spiritual guru, Ram Rahim, indulged by his followers in Haryana, and observed that only the Government could judge whether public order would be threatened if certain steps are not taken.  If the Government considered the ban on her book necessary, and if the High court concurred with it, Supreme Court can't interfere, the bench had orally observed.  The arguments and the bench's observations suggested that the bench might not be entirely satisfied with the legal reasoning or its absence in the High Court's order.

Advocate and author, Gautam Bhatia, described the order as 'judicial evasion'.  The brief order declaring that the High court's order is in consonance with law - without any reasoning - only serves to confirm Bhatia's worst suspicions.