Author Dr Farhat Khan, who authored the book ‘Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System’, was on Thursday handed an arrest notice and given spot bail by the Madhya Pradesh Police while she was undergoing dialysis at a Pune hospital. “Controversial author was handed over the arrest notice while she was undergoing dialysis in a hospital in Pune,” Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Thursday, while speaking to reporters. The move comes five days after an FIR was registered against Khan and three others for hurting religious sentiments based on the complaint made by Lucky Adiwal, a student of New Indore Law College who is also affiliated with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). In his complaint to Bhawar Kuan police station, Adiwal had alleged that the content of the book projected the Hindu community and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in a poor light and promoted enmity. “We had formed teams but Dr Farhat Khan had locked her home and left. We had learnt that she was undergoing dialysis in Sendhwa and then she was finally handed over the arrest notice in a hospital in Pune this morning. She was given a spot bail,” Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 4, R K Singh told The Indian Express. Singh further pointed out that they have also been trying to trace down the publisher of Amar Law Publication Hitesh Khetrapal, while professor Morza Mojij and former principal Inamur Rahman are facing a departmental inquiry and action against both of them will be taken after the departmental inquiry. Mojij and Rahman were also named in the FIR against Khan. On Tuesday, an anticipatory bail application filed by Rahman and Mojij was rejected. The controversial book was published in 2011 and it underwent a cover change in 2015. Khetrapal had earlier informed Express that roughly 1,000 copies of the book, which is used by LLM students, were published. The controversial portion of the unsold stock was changed while the remaining stock was destroyed in 2021 after a complaint was received. On March 16, 2021, Khan had also given a written apology to the publisher. Meanwhile, Home Minister Narottam Mishra also informed that another book authored by Khan is also under scrutiny and further action will be taken based on the findings.
