Answer
Introduction
“Give me
the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience,
above all liberties”.
-John
Milton
Article
19(1) (a) of the Constitution of India states that, all citizens shall have the
right to freedom of speech and expression. The philosophy behind this Article
lies in the Preamble of the Constitution, where a solemn resolve is made to
secure to all its citizen, liberty of thought and expression. The exercise of
this right is, however, subject to reasonable restrictions for certain purposes
being imposed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.
Essential elements of Freedom of
Speech
I.
This
right is available only to a citizen of India and not to the person of other
nationalities i.e., foreign nationals.
II.
The
freedom of speech under Article 19(1) (a) of the Indian constitution includes
the right to express oneself through any medium, such as in words of writing,
printing, gesture, etc.
III.
This
right is, however, not absolute and it allows Government to frame laws to
impose reasonable restrictions in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of
India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public
order, decency and morality and contempt of court, defamation and incitement to
an offence.
IV.
Such
a right ought to be implemented as much by the action of the State as by its inaction.
Thus, failure on the part of the State to guarantee the freedom of right and
expression to all its citizens would also constitute a violation of Article
19(1) (a) of the Indian constitution.
To understand this concept efficiently, we have
to divide it in the following heads:
A. Freedom of Press
Freedom of press includes all types of freedom,
like: freedom to publish, freedom to circulate and freedom to access.
Landmark Cases, which shape the dimensions of
this right:
I. Sakal
Papers v. Union of India:
Facts: The petitioner was the owner of a
private limited company, ‘Sakal’, which published daily and weekly newspapers
in Marathi. This newspaper used to play a leading part in the dissemination of
news and in molding public opinion. They claimed that their net circulation of
copies in Maharashtra and Karnataka on weekdays was 52,000 and on Sunday it was
56,000. However, the Central Government passed the Newspaper (Price and Page)
Act, 1956, later, the Daily Newspapers (Price and Page) Order, 1960. Because of
that order, the government fixed the maximum number of pages that could be
published by the newspapers. So, the petitioner filed a case challenging the
constitutionality of that Act.
Judgment: The court held that Section 3(1) of
the Act was unconstitutional and also an order made under the same would be
unconstitutional.
II. Indian Express v. Union of India:
In this case it was established after observing
that the term “freedom of press” is not used under Article 19 in its language
but it is contained in the form of its essence within Article 19(1)(a) of the
Constitution of India, and hence, there can not be any interference with the
freedom of press. it was held that Freedom of Press includes freedom of
publication, freedom of circulation and freedom against pre-censorship.
The other landmark cases includes:
Romesh Thaper vs State of Madras, Brij Bhushan
vs State of Delhi and Union of India v/s Association for Democratic Reforms.
B. Freedom of Commercial speech or Freedom of advertisement:
In Tata
Press Ltd. Vs. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., the Supreme Court held that a
commercial advertisement or commercial speech was also a part of the freedom of
speech and expression, which would be restricted only within the limitation of
Article 19(2).
C. Right to Broadcast
Ministry of
Information vs. Cricket Association of Bengal:
In this
case, it was held that the live broadcasting of a cricket match is allowed and
comes under the purview of right to freedom of free speech and expression.
D. Issue of Prior censorship:
Abbas v.
Union of India:
It is the
first case in which the issue of the prior censorship of films came into
consideration by the supreme court of India. The petitioner’s film was not
given ‘U’ certificate so he challenged the validity of censorship under the
criteria as it violated his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and
expression. The court, however, held that the motion picture stirs emotions
more deeply than any other form of art. Hence pre-censorship was valid and was
justified under Article 19(2).
Grounds of Restrictions
Clause 2 of
Article 19 provides for certain restrictions on right to freedom of speech:
1. Security
of the State
2. Friendly
relations with foreign States
3. Public
order
4. Decency
and Morality
5. Contempt
of court
6.
Defamation
7.
Incitement to an offence, and
8.
Sovereignty and integrity of India.
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