A lower court order barring the publication of a book titled 'Gunning for the Godman: The 

true story Behind Asaram Bapu 's Conviction' was recently lifted by the Delhi High Court. (HarperCollins v. Sanchita).

The order was issued by a Single Judge Bench of Justice Najmi Waziri in the appeal filed by the Harper Collins against the injunction order passed by the lower court in a suit filed by the co- convict in the Asaram Bapu rape case, Ms. Sanchita.

The book, written by Mr. Ajay Lamba, Additional Commissioner of Police, Jaipur and Mr. Sanjiv Mathu,claiming to be a true story, was scheduled to be published both offline and online on September 5 this year. The Delhi High Court had stayed the release of this book earlier this month.

The Appellant submitted before the court that, there was no point and scenario for granting pre-publication censorship and the court must be wary of the same; the contents of the novel, which, as claimed by Sanchita, the co-accused is not defamatory and Sanchita, who requested a stay the day before the book was written, had a mala fide motive.

He said the book was written on the basis of the case record and it was a tale of the case's prosecuting officer, based on the testimony recorded during the trial, and the Godman was convicted along with the complainant.

The respondent has in reply submitted before the court that in the course of a fair trial, the publication of the book may serve as an impediment and the publication of the book may take a toll on her reputation. The book is alleged to be one sided narration of the events and does not follows the trial court record.

Directing insertion of a disclaimer in the book that is based on the judgement of the trial court, which is pending under appeal, the Delhi High Court had allowed the sale of the book. Similarly, for the books that are to be sold online, a caveat for the same must be included, the court ordered.

The High Court had earlier imposed an ex parte interim injunction restricting the publication, but the same was set aside later.

This news has been reported and prepared by Ms. Shrishti Tiwari and reviewed by Ms. Samreen Ahmed, Research Assistant, Research & Innovation Department, MyLawman.