SC to hear plea against novel 'Meesha'

The Supreme Court will on Thursday hear a PIL by Delhi resident N Radhakrishnan seeking a ban on publication of a Malayalam novel 'Meesha' by Kerala-based author S Harish.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud posted the petition for consideration on August 2, on a mentioning made by advocate Usha Nandini V.

The petitioner claimed the publication of the series in a newspaper has already caused public outbursts and protests across the nation, for projecting the Hindu women going to temple in poor light and making them a subject of ridicule and embarrassment. He sought a direction to seize all copies of the newspapers.

“The instances of projecting women in poor light has become a trend and there is an urgent need to curb it,” the petitioner said.

“It has become a trend for people to proclaim themselves secular and progressive at the cost of Hindu faith and beliefs. It is further painful that the elected governments for their political gains have been encouraging such trends to further their political objectives,” he added.

The petitioner also sought framing of guidelines to prevent recurrence of such instances which may cause a threat to the integrity of the society and safety of women.