Gujarat court refuses to ban a book mocking PM Narendra Modi citing Article 19

AHMEDABAD: A court here has dismissed a suit seeking a ban on the sale of a Gujarati book in which author Jayesh Shah, a Congress leader, has allegedly mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Civil court judge A M Dave cited Article 19 of the Constitution and dismissed the suit on Monday, holding that banning the book, titled " Fekuji Have Dilli Ma (Fekuji is in Delhi now)", would violate the fundamental right of freedom of expression.

The book dwells on a list of promises made by Modi during his campaign for 2014 Lok Sabha polls and claims that he has failed to deliver on them.

The suit demanding ban on the book was filed by a social worker Narsinh Solanki, who contended that the book is meant to "defame" Modi.

Solanki alleged that the contents and the title of the book are defamatory and derogatory in nature and they would spoil the image of the Prime Minister.

According to Solanki, Modi came to power just two years back, a time-frame too short to fulfil all the promises he made during the poll campaign.

Solanki sought the court's intervention to put an immediate ban on the sale of the book, which is in the market since last few months.

However, not convinced with the arguments of Solanki, the judge said that India is a democracy and people have all the right to express their personal views through a book. The court held that banning the book would violate the right of freedom of expression.