Indian court rejects plea to ban Da Vinci Code

India's top court has refused to ban the The Da Vinci Code film, saying no country with Christianity as a dominant religion has taken such a step, a news report said today.

Judges Arijit Pasayat and Altamas Kabir rejected petitions by the All India Christian Welfare Association and a representative of the New Delhi Cathedral Church who said the movie hurt the religious sentiments of Christians, the Press Trust of India news agency said.

“Can you name any country where Christianity is a dominant religion that has banned the film?” the judges asked the petitioners.

Their lawyers had no answers, PTI said.

The film, based on a work of fiction, has been doing good business in several Indian states since it was released on May 26, a week after its worldwide release.

Although India’s censor board cleared the film, at least six of India’s 28 states have banned it, saying it offended Christians.

Like the best-selling novel on which it is based, the movie’s plot centres on the premise that Jesus married one of his followers, Mary Magdalene, with whom he bore children.

Christians comprise about 2% of India’s billion people, most of whom are Hindu.