In a recent judgment, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that sought to ban the book “Tathakathit Gayatri Devi Mantra Ki Vastavikta” (Reality of so-called Gayatri Mantra), authored by Sant Gyaneshwar Swami Sadanand ji Paramhans. The petition, filed by Satya Sanatan Dharm Dharmatma Kalyan Samiti, argued that the book contained derogatory content that could potentially hurt religious sentiments.
A division bench, led by Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra, ruled against the petition. The court highlighted that a similar plea by the same petitioner had been dismissed as infructuous in 2016, thereby setting a precedent that barred entertaining a subsequent PIL with a comparable cause.
The dismissed PIL had contended that the book’s content might deeply offend readers and had demanded a halt on its printing, publication, distribution, and circulation.
