Legal battle brews over Dr Ambedkar book

Mumbai: Author and activist Arundhati Roy and Navayana Publishing, which recently brought out B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste with an introductory essay by Roy, are about to face a lawsuit for this effort shortly. The Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publishing Committee has recommended to the Maharashtra Education Director that Roy and Navayana be sued for publishing the work without its permission.

“The right to publish Dr Ambedkar’s literature is with the Maharashtra government. The publishing committee suggests to the state what literature should be published”, said Dr Avinash Dolas, member secretary of the committee.

Navayana publisher S. Anand, in an email, quoted the committee saying in an affidavit before the Delhi high court on February 21, 2014, that “The owners of the copyright are members of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s family.” After Dr Ambedkar’s death, the copyrights for his literary works were given by the owners to the state of Maharashtra. The Maharashtra government set up the Dr Ambedkar Source Material committee in 1976.

Navayana initially approached the committee for permission to publish Ambedkar’s work in September 2013, according to Mr Anand. “We were under the impression that the committee was indeed the copyright holder. When they did not reply to our two formal letters, we filed a suit in the Delhi high court in November 2013, seeking relief,” he says. “When it became abundantly clear that the BASMPC was not the copyright holder but merely a licence holder, Navayana sought to withdraw the case,” he adds. The court permitted Navayana to withdraw its case. It mentioned in its order that if Navayana went ahead with the publication, it would do so at its own risk and peril.

Mr Anand pointed out that Latha Jishnu in Down to Earth magazine had listed a number of volumes by different publishers that included the same work, Annihilation of Caste by Dr Ambedkar. The Oxford University Press is among these. “Truth is there have been hundreds of editions of AoC over the past many decades. Navayana’s is just another one,” he says.

Dr Dolas of the Dr Ambedkar Source Material Committee however says that “Despite Delhi High Court’s rejection of their plea, Navayana published the book with an introduction by Maoist sympathiser Ms Roy”. The committee has decided to sue them in Bombay High Court now.

The latest episode of this controversy erupted after an email by writer and academic Ananya Vajpeyi, in which she mentioned the possibility of such legal action, was leaked.

Dr Ambedkar’s grandson, advocate Prakash Ambedkar, said the issue concerns the state and he would not intervene or suggest anything to the state.