A temporary stay on the sale of a new book on Tipu Sultan written by Rangayana director Addanda C Cariappa was vacated by a court in Bengaluru on Thursday, December 8. Additional City Civil and Sessions judge J R Mendonca vacated an earlier temporary injunction issued by the court against the author of 'Tipu Nija Kanasugalu’, its publisher Ayodhya Publication and printer Rashtrotthana Mudranalaya.
The earlier injunction, however, did not prevent the respondents from printing the book at their risk and storing the ones which are already printed. On Thursday, the court dismissed the suit against the book filed by former chairman of the District Wakf Board Committee and Bengaluru resident BS Rafiulla. The next hearing of the case will take place on January 23, 2023.
The suit claimed that the book "contains wrong information without any support or justification from history" which hurt the feelings of the Muslim community.
In November, Cariappa, who is a noted theatre personality, had filed a complaint with the police after getting threats to his life. Police had stated that Cariappa submitted a written complaint to the Jayalakshmipuram police station in Mysuru.
Cariappa's literary work "Tipu Nija Kanasugalu" (Real Dreams of Tipu) and adaptation of the book into a play at Mysuru theatre repertory has stirred a controversy for its content which brands Tipu Sultan as a religious fanatic.
The author had been threatened through a letter. "You have reached the stage of being killed. You will die. Your god will also not be able to save you," the threatening letter read.
Cariappa had sought for protection and legal action against the persons for issuing life threats. Cariyappa's book and the play have led to objections from historians following his claims that Tipu Sultan was not killed by the British, but by Vokkaliga chieftains Uri Gowda and Nanje Gowda.