Ahmedabad, Sept. 30: An order of the Gujarat Government forfeiting a Gujarati book captioned “Quotations from Mao Tse Tung” on the ground that some of the passages in the book constituted seditious matter, was set aside on Tuesday by a special Bench of the Gujarat High Court consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr. P.N. Bhagwati, Mr. Justice B.J. Diwan and Mr. Justice D.A. Desai. The court held that the passages in question did not constitute seditious matter and as the publishers of the book had made it clear, the thoughts of Mao Tse Tung as expressed in these passages were presented to the public with a view to enable them to study the principles and practice of Communism. “To condemn them as seditious would be to close the doors of knowledge, to ostracise a philosophy, because it challenged the most cherished values of society and held up for acceptance a new way of life vastly different from that to which our people were presently accustomed. It is not for the Government of the day nor for the Judges presiding over the courts to decide what doctrine or philosophy is good for our people. It is for the people to choose what is best for them and to help them to make a wise and intelligent choice, free propagation of ideas is an essential requisite,” the court observed.
