On 2 February 1968, a lawyer named Amal Mitra filed a charge of obscenity against Basu and the publisher Shitangshu Kumar Dasgupta.
Sukhen remembers his mother as a flirtatious woman, and his father is devoid of any moral depth and realisation, and is mean and money-minded.
Mr. Chopra, manager of neighbouring industry and Mr. Mittir, the labour advisor, flattered Sukhen out of fear.
Sukhen hates hypocrisy and politicians who cheated and oppressed people for their own needs, and teachers who used their students as a political weapon for personal benefits.
Sukhen urinates under his father's table, untidies his brothers' rooms, and calls out to servants to divert his attention.
Keshob, Sukhen's elder brother, is a powerful political leader who allegedly illegally traded in baby foods and railway spare parts.
Purnendu's political party apparently worked for the poor and fought for justice but Purnrndu has sex with their maidservant's daughter.
After having talked with Shikha, Sukhen leaves for home but instead goes to visit Nirapadbabu, a primary school master watching Ramesh, a worker of Purnendu's party, delivering a lecture.
Suddenly, Sukhen feels the strange pain close to his shoulder; to suppress it, he drinks alcohol and goes to Shibe's house, where he meets Manjari and falls asleep.
On 2 February 1968, Bengali lawyer Amal Mitra complained in the court of Chief Presidency Magistrate in Calcutta Prajapati "contains matters which are obscene and both the accused persons have sold, distributed, printed and exhibited the same which has the tendency to corrupt the morals of those in whose hands the said Sharadiya Desh may fall".
[1] Samaresh Basu and the owners of Desh appealed to the Supreme Court of India on 9 July 1973 by Special Leave according to Article 136 of the Indian Constitution.
On 24 September 1985, the Supreme Court announced its verdict, declaring Prajapati free from obscenity and all overturned the complaints about Samaresh Basu and Shitangshu Kumar Dasgupta.
The court concluded: On a very anxious consideration and after carefully applying our judicial mind in making an objective assessment of the novel, we do not think that it can be said with any assurance that the novel is obscene merely because slang and unconventional words have been used in the book in which there have been emphasis on sex and description of female bodies and there are the narrations of feelings, thoughts and actions in vulgar language.
Sagarmoy Ghosh, the working editor of Desh of that time, noted this event as an historical landmark in Bengali literature.
Although the term originally referred to things considered repulsive, it has since acquired a more specifically sexual meaning.
P. M. Bakshi stated in his article "The Need for a New Convention": ... the mere fact that the language used was vulgar would not be enough to render the book as obscene.
Soumitra Chatterjee, Satabdi Roy, Robi Ghosh and Mamata Shankar acted in the film.