The decadeslong ban of Salman Rushdie’s “The Satanic Verses” in his native India is now in doubt. That's not because of a change of heart more than two years after the author’s near-fatal stabbing, but because of what amounts to some missing paperwork.

In 1988, India issued an order forbidding the import of Salman Rushdie’s novel. A Delhi Court has overturned the order, not because of free speech, but because no one could find it.

India's three-decade ban on importing author Salman Rushdie's controversial 'The Satanic Verses' book has effectively been lifted after a court said the government was unable to produce the original notification that imposed the ban.