SC closes chapter on Shivaji book

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has quashed criminal proceedings against American historian James W Laine for his controversial book, Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India.

The Maratha Vikas Sangh had initiated criminal action under section 153 of the Indian Penal Code against the author, the book’s publisher, Vinod Hansraj Goyal, and an officer of Oxford University Press for promoting social enmity. The Sangh was angered by an isolated reference to Shivaji in the book first published about three years ago.

A bench of Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice Lokeshwar Singh Panta and Justice DK Jain said: “The intention to cause disorder or incite the people to violence is the sine qua non (essential ingredient) of the offence under section 153A of IPC and the prosecution has to prove prima facie the existence of mens rea (motive) on the part of the accused.”

Thus, the intention has to be judged by the language used in the book and the circumstances in which it was written, the court said. “One cannot rely on strongly worded and isolated passages for proving the charge nor indeed can one [connect isolated sentences by] inferential reasoning,” it said.