PIARA SINGH BHANIARA Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Questioning the validity of Notification No. 1/142/4PBI/2281 dated 27.9.2001, present writ petition has been filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for its quashment.

(2.) THE petitioner claims to be a spiritual person having established a Dera at Village Dhamana, Tehsil Anandpur Sahib, Distt. Ropar, Punjab. He wrote and published a book under the title "Bhav Sagar Samunder Amrit Vani Granth". The publication, sale and possession of this book was banned vide the impugned Notification referred to here-in-above and even its translation in any language or its reprint prohibited and forfeited to Government in the territory of Punjab State. State Government, invoking power under Sub-Section (1) of Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure issued the aforesaid Notification thereby imposing ban and forfeiture of the publication on the ground that the book hurts religious feelings of certain classes of society and is defamatory to Sikh religion and that the material promotes enmity between different groups of society on ground of religion and thus constitutes offences under Sections 501, 153-A and 295-A of the IPC. It may be useful to reproduce the impugned Notification dated 27.9.2001 as follows :

(3.) EVEN one of the grounds raised in the writ petition is violation of the mandatory requirement of Section 95 of the Cr.P.C. which, inter alia, requires recording of grounds. A similar question arose before Hon'ble Supreme Court-in the case of Narayan Dass Indurkhya v. The State of M.P., AIR 1972 S.C. 2086, wherein Hon'ble Supreme Court made following observations :-