The Satanic Verses by Sir Salman Rushdie has returned to the shelves of Indian bookshops 36 years after sparking a fatwa that forced him into hiding for almost a decade.

The book, which is inspired by the life of the prophet Muhammad, was banned in the 77-year-old author’s birth country when it was published in 1988.

Now, Bahrisons Booksellers, a family-run bookstore in New Delhi, has announced that Sir Salman’s most famous and controversial novel was on sale again. 

The restock was permitted after the original order banning the book’s import into India was lost by government officials. 

Last month, Delhi’s high court ruled: “We have no other option except to presume that no such notification exists.”