LONDON — The High Court today rejected a bid by a Muslim group to prosecute author Salman Rushdie and publishers Viking Penguin for blasphemy in connection with Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses."

A panel of three judges upheld a lower court decision not to issue summonses against Rushdie and his publishers. It said Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sir David Hopkin ruled correctly last year that Britain's blasphemy laws apply only to the Christian religion.

Many Muslims believe Rushdie's novel blasphemes Islam. The writer has been in hiding since Feb. 14, 1989, when Iran's late spiritual leader, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, called on Muslims to execute him and those closely connected with the book's publication.

During a four-day hearing, the British Muslim Action Front argued that blasphemy laws should be extended to protect other religions, including Islam.