Plea in Bombay High Court says right to life not complete without books; seeks declaration of 'sale of books' as 'essential service'

The Bombay High Court on Friday issued notice on a plea filed by Pune publishers seeking to include sale of books as essential services under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (Marathi Prakashak Parishad v. Government of India & Ors.)..A Bench of Justices KK Tated and PK Chavan issued notice to the Central and State government and sought their responses..The petition said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a shutdown of all major businesses, except those which were essential, and since books were not considered essential, the publishing industry suffered considerably during lockdown. "Books provide food for thoughts and reading books reduce stress. As we consider food an essential element, it is time to consider books which provides food for thought as essential," the petition stated..The petition prayed for a declaration that selling of books is an essential service for all times because "without books, exercising right to life and freedom of expression, which includes quality of life, will not attain its complete meaning". .The petitioner also claimed that reading books reduces stress and that books always provide great help to people living with anxiety by offering better mental health. Hence, books ought to be considered as essential service, it was contended.The plea also highlighted that parents are not allowed to go to book shops to purchase books for their school-going children and therefore, they had to face difficulties..The petition filed through advocates Ajinkya Udane and Asim Sarode also highlighted a campaign which started in United States of America after the book publishing industry there suffered. The campaign, #BooksAreEssential picked up across the world, the plea said.Kerala government has taken some initiative to consider books as essential service, hence Maharashtra government can also consider the same, the petition stated. ."During lockdown, some petitions were filed and entertained by the Court, demanding availability of alcohol during lockdown period and on this background many socially motivated citizens and the petitioners wondered why such petition is not filed on demanding to make books available during lockdown," the plea underscored.