The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has granted the Centre more than a month’s additional time to file its response to petitions challenging the forfeiture of 25 Kashmir-related books.
In an order dated February 11, the Court recorded that objections from one of the respondents were still pending. A bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justices Rajnesh Oswal and Shahzad Azeem observed that while the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir had filed its response and the petitioners had submitted a rejoinder, respondent No. 3 — the Union of India — had not filed its reply despite being granted an opportunity.
The Court noted that there was little justification to defer the proceedings further. However, it accepted the request of the senior counsel appearing for the respondents, who undertook to file objections before the next date of hearing and to provide an advance copy to the petitioners’ counsel.
The matter has now been listed for further hearing on March 25, 2026.
Earlier, in December last year, the High Court had adjourned the hearing after observing that both the J&K government and the Centre had failed to submit their objections despite being given adequate time.
The petitions challenge the legality and constitutional validity of a notification issued by the Home Department of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and published in the Official Gazette on August 5, 2025 (S.O. 203). The notification declared 25 listed books forfeited on the ground that they allegedly contained material “prejudicial to the security of the State and public order.”
The forfeited titles include works by authors such as Arundhati Roy, A G Noorani, Sumantra Bose, David Devadas and Anuradha Bhasin. The list also features works by Islamic scholars Hasan al-Banna and Abul A’la Maududi.
The petitions have been filed by retired Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak, Wajahat Habibullah, Dr. Sumantra Bose, David Devadas, Shakir Shabir and others. They have argued that the impugned notification was issued in violation of statutory safeguards and constitutional guarantees.
