1- Introduction

Freedom of Speech and Expression is defined under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India which states that all the citizens of India have a right to freedom of speech and expression. The philosophy behind this Article lies in the Preamble of the Constitution of India- where a solemn resolve is made to secure to all its citizen, their liberty of thought and expression. The exercise of this right is, however, subjected to reasonable restrictions for some purposes being imposed under Article 19(2) of the Constitution of India.

What are the main elements of freedom of Speech and Expression?

These are the following essential elements of the freedom of Speech and Expression:

This right is solely available to a citizen of India and not to persons belonging to other nations i.e. foreign nationals.

The freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) includes the right to express ones views and opinions about any kind of issue and it can be done through any kind of medium, such as by words of mouth, by writing, by printing, through picturisation or through a movie.

This right is not absolute as it allows the Government of India to frame laws which can impose reasonable restrictions in the cases which are involved with the sovereignty and integrity of India or the security of the state, or friendly relations with foreign nations, even public order, decency and morality and contempt of court, defamation and incitement to an offence.

Such a restriction on the freedom of speech of any citizen may be imposed as much by an action of the State as by its inaction. Thus, if failure is found on the part of the State to guarantee to all its citizens the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression would also constitute a violation of Article 19(1)(a).{1}

2- How is Freedom of Speech important?

In a democracy like India, the concept of freedom of speech expression opens up channels of free discussion of issues. Freedom of speech plays a very important role in the formation and the showcasing of the public opinion on social, economic political matters throughout the country. It ensures within its scope, the freedom related to propagation and interchangement of ideas, dissemination of information which would, later on, help the formation of ones opinion along with their viewpoint on certain issues and give rise to debates on matters which involve the public. So long as the expression is confined to nationalism, patriotism love for our nation, the use of National flag by the way of expression of those sentiments would be a Fundamental Right.{2}

3- What is meant by the Freedom of Press?

Freedom of the Press is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution of India. However, it is present as a right under the meaning of freedom of speech and expression (not directly expressed though) as laid down under Article 19 of the Constitution. If by democracy it is meant that the Government is of the people of the nation, it is by the people and it is for the people, then it is necessary that every citizen should be entitled to participate actively in the democratic process of the nation. Free debates and open discussions about certain matters are not possible unless there is a free and independent press.

The freedom of the press includes one of the pillars of democracy and indeed lies at the foundation of democratic organization. It has been held so by the Supreme Court of India in many decisions that the freedom of the press is a part of the Freedom of Speech and Expression and covered under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, the reason for this is that the freedom of the press is nothing but an aspect of freedom of speech and expression. Therefore, it has been rightly explained that although the Press is considered to be a medium for reaching the peoples views to the everyone and yet it has to stick to the limitations which are imposed upon them by the Constitution under Article 19(2).

Case: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Private Ltd. 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 which involves the public interest and security. Therefore, it was concluded that the imposition of censorship of a journal or prohibiting a newspaper from publishing their own views about any issue which involves public interest would amount to a restriction on the press liberty.{3}

4- Limitation

There are many grounds on which the freedom of speech and expression can be restricted up to some reasonable restrictions by the state. Such restrictions are defined under the clause (2) of Article 19 of the Constitution of India which imposes certain restrictions on free speech under the following:

Security of the State

Friendly relations with foreign States

Public order

Decency and Morality

Contempt of court

Defamation

Incitement to an offence, and

Sovereignty and integrity of India.

Security of the State

Some reasonable restrictions can be imposed on the freedom of speech and expression, in the sections which are involved with the security of the State. The term security of the State is required to be distinguished from the term public order because they are similar but different in terms of their intensity. Hence, the security of state refers to serious and aggravated forms of public disorder an example of this can be rebellion, waging war against the state even if it is against a part of the state, etc.

Case: Peoples Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (AIR 1997 SC 568)

Public interest litigation (PIL) was filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India by PUCL, against the frequent cases of telephone tapping happening throughout the nation. And thus the validity of Section 5(2) of The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 was challenged. It was then observed that occurrence of public emergency and in the interest of public safety is the sine qua non for the application of the provisions laid down under the Section 5(2). If any of these two conditions are absent from the case, then the government of India has no right to exercise its power under this section. Telephone tapping, therefore, will be violative of Article 19(1) (a) unless it comes within the grounds of reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2).{4}

5- Conclusion

Expressing ones opinions through speech is one of the basic rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India and in the modern context, the right to freedom of speech and expression is not just limited to expressing ones own views through words but it also includes the circulation of those views in terms of writing, or through audiovisuals, or through any other way of communication. This right also comprises of the right to freedom of the press, the right to information, etc. Hence it can be concluded with this article that the concept of freedom is very much essential for the proper functioning of a Democratic State.

6-Citation

1:Byjus,"introduction "available at : https://byjus.com (last visited on December 6,2023)

2:wikipedia," How is Freedom of Speech important" https://en.m.wikipedia.org (last visited on December 6,2023)

3:Lavanya,"What is meant by the Freedom of Press" https://www.legalserviceindia.com (last visited on December 7,2023)

4: unacademy,"Limitation" https://unacademy.com (last visited on December 7,2023)