The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has constituted a three-judge Full Bench to hear a batch of petitions challenging the government’s order forfeiting 25 books for allegedly propagating “false narratives and secessionism.”

The Bench, headed by the Chief Justice and comprising Justices Rajnesh Oswal and Shahzad Azeem, is scheduled to take up the matter on Monday.The constitution of the Full Bench follows the court’s earlier observation on September 30, when it had agreed to consider setting up a three-judge bench to examine the legality of what the petitioners termed the “sweeping and unreasoned forfeiture” of the books.

The petitions, filed separately by journalist David Devadas, CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami, retired Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak and others, advocate Shakir Shabir, and Swastik Singh, challenge the Home Department’s notification ordering the forfeiture of the publications under Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

The petitioners have contended that the government’s action violates the constitutional guarantee of free speech and expression and lacks any reasoned justification.

On August 5, Jammu & Kashmir Home Department banned the publication of 25 books on Kashmir, including by authors such as Arundhati Roy and A G Noorani, saying they propagate “secessionism”.

The other books include political commentaries and historical accounts such as The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 by noted constitutional expert Noorani, Kashmir at the Crossroads and Contested Lands by Sumantra Bose, In Search of a Future: The Kashmir Story by David Devadas, Roy’s Azadi and A Dismantled State: The Untold Story of Kashmir After Article 370 by journalist Anuradha Bhasin.

In August, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the ban on 25 books was initially filed in the Supreme Court. However, the apex court advised the petitioner to approach the Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court.