Author Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses could soon be available in India, 36 years after it was banned. File image/Reuters Over 36 years ago, India banned Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses book, citing it to be blasphemous. Now, after so many years ...

India's three-decade ban on importing author Salman Rushdie's controversial 'The Satanic Verses' book has effectively been lifted after a court said the government was unable to produce the original notification that imposed the ban.

Delhi High Court rules no evidence of ban on Salman Rushdie`s controversial novel, sparking debate on censorship and free speech.

The Delhi High Court has removed a 36-year-old ban on the import of Salman Rushdie’s contentious novel The Satanic Verses, referencing the lack of the initial Customs notification that imposed the ban.

Rushdie's novel was banned in the Asian country in 1988 due to controversy over its depiction of Islam and portrayal of Prophet Muhammad. View on euronews

A fatwa (ruling) was issued against Rushdie and his publishers in February 1989 by the then Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Violent demonstrations followed, and the book’s Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed to death. Rushdie was forced to spend the best part of a decade hiding in London.

Salman Rushdie’s controversial 1988 novel The Satanic Verses could become available in India for the first time in decades after a court in Delhi said the government was unable to produce the original notification document that banned imports of the book.

The Delhi High Court closed proceedings on a petition challenging the 1988 ban on Salman Rushdie's novel 'The Satanic Verses'. The court said the government failed to produce the ban notification. The court presumed the notification does not exist.