Excellent study material for all civil services aspirants - begin learning - Kar ke dikhayenge!
SHARE:
CONCEPT – ARTISTIC EXPRESSION AND RELEVANT LAWS
Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment
- Freedom of Speech : This easily is a crucial freedom in any democracy, promoting a 'marketplace for ideas, thoughts and discussion’. It is necessary for self-expression by citizens, and achieve free conscience and self fulfillment.
- The Constitution guarantees it : On 26th January 1950, an independent Republic of India adopted the Constitution, which solemnly resolved to secure to all citizens the liberty of thought, expression, belief and worship. The freedom of speech was explicitly recognized as a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a).
- Reasonable restrictions : This freedom is not absolute and is subject to 'reasonable‘ restrictions provided under Article 19(2). To know the true character of a society, one needs to just glance at the limits imposed on the freedom of speech and expression in it.
- What constitutes freedom of speech and expression : It means the right to express one's convictions and opinions freely, by word of mouth, writing, printing, gestures, signs, pictures, or electronic media. It includes the right to propagate one's views through the print media or through any other communication channel; it further includes the right to acquire information and to disseminate it.
- When are you not free to speak : The fundamental right to freedom of speech, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a), is not absolute. Our Constitution, under Article 19(2), provides eight grounds on which it may be 'reasonably' restricted by the Parliament or the State Legislatures in India. These are listed ahead.
- Sovereignty and integrity: The objective is to restrict freedom of speech, by penalizing and suppressing demands for secession, in the interest of preservation and maintenance of the sovereignty of India. Public order: In the context of free speech, public order has been equated with the “maintenance of social order”, that virtually includes every form of disorder, from the most minor and trivial (even a mere law and order problem!) to the most aggravated forms (like a rebellion).
- Security of the State: This refers to the most serious and cataclysmic happenings, nothing less than endangering the foundations of the State or threatening to overthrow it. For example, external aggression, war, rebellion against the Government, etc.
- Decency and morality: This restriction purports to protect people from depravity and corruption by immoral influence. Any kind of speech or expression is considered 'obscene' and therefore, immoral, when it appeals to the carnal side of human nature, without having any literary merit, social purpose or public interest.
- Contempt of Court: The freedom of speech and expression is limited by the law on 'criminal contempt'. Criminal contempt is defined as “publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise) which scandalizes or lowers the authority of any court (for instance, 'Judge bashing', making scurrilous attacks against a pending proceeding) and/or which could interfere or obstruct the administration of justice in any manner (for instance, a comment made by a newspaper upon an ongoing litigation which is of a nature that will influence the minds of the judges in passing judgement).
- Defamation: Defamation is lowering of another person's reputation through a statement or publication calculated to expose a person to hatred, contempt or ridicule or to injure the person's reputation in his/ her trade, business or profession. A person who makes and all those who participate in the making or publication of the defamatory statement are liable for defamation.
- What is the scope and ambit of 'reasonable restrictions‘ : The Supreme Court has often stated that there will be priority given to free speech. Freedom of expression cannot be held to ransom by an intolerant group of people. The Court has held “our commitment of freedom of expression demands that it cannot be suppressed unless the situations created by allowing the freedom are pressing and the community interest is endangered. The anticipated danger should not be remote, conjectural or far-fetched. It should have proximate and direct nexus with the expression. The expression of thought should be intrinsically dangerous to public interest.”
* Content sourced from free internet sources (publications, PIB site, international sites, etc.). Take your own subscriptions. Copyrights acknowledged.
COMMENTS