New Delhi- The Supreme Court on Friday declined to directly entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Jammu and Kashmir administration's decision to ban 25 books on Kashmir, and advised the petitioner to approach the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court instead.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant, Joymalya Bagchi, and Vipul M. Pancholi said that since some of the authors of the proscribed books are residents of the Union Territory, the High Court would be better placed to appreciate the matter.

“Recently, there's an attempt to bypass High Courts. Let's have the advantage of the HC opinion. We have seen the list of the books. Some local people are talking about issues. HC would be in a better position,” Justice Kant observed during the hearing.

The bench ordered that the matter, once filed, be placed before a three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of the High Court and requested the High Court to endeavour to decide it at the earliest. The apex court clarified that it had not expressed any opinion on the merits of the case.

The plea was filed by Shakir Shabir, a Kashmir-based lawyer, represented by Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde. He argued that Section 98 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which empowers the government to forfeit publications deemed objectionable, was being misused. Hegde contended that an order by an official in one state could have an all-India effect, leading to blanket seizure of literature, which he termed excessive.

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