It's not always that a publisher decides to back a book, especially one slapped with a multi-crore lawsuit, and which, in a politically-sensitive times, calls out "fringe" Hindutva organisations. But that's what Chiki Sarkar did in 2018. Two years on, the founder of the up-and-coming independent publishing house, Juggernaut Books, is celebrating a rare feat on the Indian publishing scene. Last month, Juggernaut won a civil defamation suit filed by Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha against its 2017 release, Shadow Armies by Dhirendra K Jha. It was a landmark victory for free speech. This is not the first time that Sarkar has had to defend a book in court. In 2017, Baba Ramdev had an injunction put on Priyanka Pathak-Narain's Godman to Tycoon: The Untold Story of Baba Ramdev. The matter is currently pending in the Supreme Court.

Attacks on books aren't new. In fact, in 2018, the American Library Association (ALA) reported that 531 materials, including books, magazines and databases, were subject to attempts at removal or restriction in the United States. India is no different. More often than not, controversial books bring along a slew of legal notices and banning threats. If the issue spirals, like it did last year with The Art of Tying a Pug, a children's book by Natasha Sharma and Priya Kuriyan (Karadi Tales) leaving the Sikh community hurt—the safest option is to withdraw the book, because small-time publishers rarely have the financial bandwidth to challenge a ban.