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Srinagar- The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has granted till time to the Centre to submit its reply in a batch of petitions assailing the forfeiture of 25 books dealing with Kashmir’s political and social history.
A full-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli, Justice Rajnesh Oswal and Justice Shahzad Azeem noted in its order that the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had already filed its response and that the petitioners had also submitted their rejoinder.
However, despite opportunity, no reply had been filed by the Centre, the court said.
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Underling that there was “hardly any justification to defer the proceedings any further,” the Bench however adjourned the matter to March 25 after senior counsel for respondents (Centre) undertook to file a response before the next date of hearing, with an advance copy to the petitioners’ counsel.
The petitions have been filed by Shakir Shabir, Swastik Singh, David Devadas, CPI(M) leader Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami, Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, and others.
The petition filed by Kak and others, including Sumantra Bose, whose two books have been forfeited, author Radha Kumar, and former Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah, has invoked Section 99 of the BNSS to set aside the order of forfeiture.
The petitioners contend that merely quoting statutory provisions without detailing specific grounds is insufficient and that the notification fails to distinguish between the government’s “opinion” and the “grounds” for that opinion, which must be evident in the order itself.
The pleas underscore that the ban order contains mere broad statements, without elaborating on how the contents of the books impact national security or honest narratives.
According to the pleas, the forfeiture order did not detail how the 25 books were identified as secessionist.
The petitioners seek to quash the notification dated August 5, 2025, issued by the Home Department of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir that declared the 25 listed books as forfeited.
The books include political commentaries and historical accounts like The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 by noted constitutional expert A G Noorani; Kashmir at the Crossroads and Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose; In Search of a Future: The Kashmir Story by David Devadas; Arundhati Roy’s Azadi; and A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 by journalist Anuradha Bhasin.
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