Legal experts and government officials have told The Hindu that there is no ban on reading, possessing or downloading copies of Salman Rushdie's controversial book, The Satanic Verses. The book, sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Finance said, was only barred from being imported under Section 11 the Customs Act of 1962, which, among other things, allows the government to prohibit imports to protect “the maintenance of the security of India” and “the maintenance of public order.”