A plea sought that guidelines be framed in cases where Sahitya Akademi awardees return their awards, they should also return the prize money and royalties they may have earned through sale of their books.
The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre to produce record related to writers who returned their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest against the Akademi's alleged "indifference" over the murder of its member and author MM Kalburgi and alleged intolerance.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath expressed the desire to see the record during a hearing of a plea to frame guidelines that if Sahitya Akademi awardees return their awards, they should also return the prize money and royalties they may have earned through sale of their books. "What was the reason given by them (by the writers during return of the awards). Why did they do that? We would like to see them," the court said, adding that "produce the record".
It said that if the guidelines are framed, then what if someone breaks that. The court also wished to know from the counsel of the Centre and Sahitya Akademi about the status of case, if any, lodged in relation to the murder of fellow writer and Sahitya Akademi board member Kalburgi.
The court had in December last year issued notices to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and Sahitya Akademi and sought their replies on the plea which contended that the "action of returning awards has the effect of tarnishing India's image".
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), filed by advocate Haji Mohammad Majid Qureshi and a religious organisation which has said that "the present system whereby writers are allowed to retain royalties earned by them through sale of copies of their books despite returning the award is arbitrary and illogical."
While mentioning the name of eight persons, including writer Nayantara Sahgal, who have returned their awards recently, the petition has sought a direction to the ministry and Sahitya Akademi to frame guidelines with respect to the award instituted by the respondents with retrospective effect. "The present petition has been filed seeking mandamus from court so that the Sahitya Akademi- India's premier academy of letters- is directed to frame guidelines so as to ensure that in case awardees were returning their awards for political reasons, they should also be rule-bound to return not only the prize money with interest but also the royalties that they may have earned through sale of their prize-winning books or other works under Article 14 of Constitution... So that reasonable remedial action can be taken against such authors who impair the country's dignity," the plea said.
It has also said that the plea was to ensure that strong punitive action is taken against those who return such awards as Sahitya Akademi Puraskar which is a solemn token of appreciation conferred on deserving writers on behalf of Indian public.
Several writers, poets and artists had recently returned their awards protesting against the Akademi's "silence" on the murder of Kalburgi as well as against the atmosphere of "intolerance and communalism" in the backdrop of the Dadri lynching incident over rumours of beef consumption.
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