Srinagar, May 30, KDC: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court will now exclusively examine whether the local administration’s ban on 25 books satisfies the legal requirements of free speech. This comes after author and journalist David Devadas dropped his broader challenge against the country’s new central criminal laws.
Devadas’s lawyer informed a three judge Full Bench consisting of Chief Justice Arun Palli, Justice Rajnesh Oswal, and Justice Shahzad Azeem that the petitioner will now strictly limit his legal challenge to the J&K Home Department’s forfeiture order passed on August 5, 2025.
Appearing for Devadas through video conferencing, Advocate Abhishek Jebraj submitted that although the petitioner had originally questioned the statutory validity of Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 and Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, he was now giving up those specific prayers. By narrowing the scope of the petition to focus purely on the executive’s ban order, the legal battle will now center entirely on whether the sweeping ban on literature satisfies the constitutional test of reasonable restrictions on free speech.
Recording the submission, the three judge bench scheduled the case for its next hearing on July 10, 2026.
The issue started on August 5, 2025, when the local home department banned the publication, possession, and circulation of 25 prominent books on Kashmir. The administration alleged that these publications promoted secessionist narratives, distorted historical facts, and contained material that threatened the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
The extensive list of restricted works features prominent international and national authors. The banned titles include constitutional expert A.G. Noorani’s The Kashmir Dispute 1947 to 2012, Anuradha Bhasin’s A Dismantled State, Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy’s Azadi, David Devadas’s In Search of a Future, and Sumantra Bose’s Contested Lands.
The move triggered widespread criticism from writers, academics, and civil society groups, who argued that the action amounted to censorship and curtailed academic inquiry and free expression. Following the notification, local police carried out raids across bookshops in Kashmir to seize copies.
Notably, the current elected government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is not involved in defending the ban because the order was passed before the new assembly took office.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration has already submitted its formal reply to defend the ban.
Representing the administration, Senior Additional Advocate General Mohsin Qadri as learnt by Kashmir Dot COm previously informed the court that the government response strongly supports the forfeiture.
In its reply, the administration called the books secessionist in nature and argued that they contain material capable of promoting alienation and disturbing public order. The government claimed it has reliable intelligence showing that these books play a critical role in misguiding the youth, glorifying terrorism, and inciting violence against the state.
A group of petitions against the ban was first taken to the Supreme Court of India. The top court directed the petitioners, including Devadas, CPI(M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, and retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak, to approach the local High Court instead. Because this case involves important free speech issues, a special three judge bench was set up to hear it.
Following the petitioner’s decision to abandon the broader constitutional challenge against parliamentary laws, the High Court is now expected to focus strictly on whether the executive restrictions imposed by the government can withstand scrutiny under constitutional guarantees relating to free speech and expression. (KDC)