Expression is one of the essentials and fundamental rights with which a person is born in a democratic country. Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees the protection of this right to the citizens of India. The broader aspect and scope of this Article is that the right of citizens to know. It also points out that one’s viewpoint should not be imposed on others, or it should not overshadow the others.
Debates, discussions, arguments, dissents, views, and counterviews are considered essential for tasks like framing of policies by the government and the checking of those policies by the public. To question the government about their decisions and actions, to express concern over the state affairs and to make the administration aware about the public’s need is one of the objectives of the Article.
Freedom of speech and expression is not limited to the oral expression or signs, motions, gestures but also extends to the written form of expressions like articles, journals, posters writeups etc. With the further advent of technology, the digital forms of writeups like comments, posts, blogs come under this ambit.
The freedom of press is also included in this Article. It tries to the maximum extent to propagate new ideas and spread of those ideas throughout the territory by giving the liberty of circulation. This freedom is protected and entitled for the four main purposes-
- It helps an individual think and develop and own idea about a matter and ponder about it.
- It develops an inquisitive nature and leads to discovery of truth.
- Due to the habit of thinking, debating and reason out of topics logically and analytically, citizens can aim to develop the habit of better decision making. It also encourages citizens to take part in the discussion regarding various topics of public and national interest.
- Due to the incoming new topics that are obvious due to the changes in the society, they can consciously adapt to the change and try to bring a justifiable balance between the society and social change.
There are reasonable restrictions that have been put onto this freedom to avoid unnecessary and blatant misuse. Article 19(2) states that there can be laws made, if it is found that the use of this right is being done in wrong ways and against the purpose. It emphasizes that if speech and expression is used to threaten, the sovereignty or integrity of the country, or to hamper the relations between india and other countries, to ignite communal hatred or disrupt public order in any way, or try to defame or incote any offence. Contempt of court can also be considered as a violation of the right.
Now the important aspect to be thought about is “how much is too much?”. Lately we have been seeing a growing amount of intolerance amongst the people. Mere and trivial issues are blown out of proportion and then consequences sometimes become unimaginable.
Moreover, now due to the technology available at the fingertips and uninterrupted and low cost internet connectivity, people do not realize or are very careless about the words they chose to express the opinion or how to present the opinion. Why just call out the people, the bureaucrats and politicians of the country themselves make statements that is unnecessary or comes within the preview of the restrictions.
Fake news and blindly forwarded messages had become a recent hotspot and dangerous issue that was concerning the internal security, peace, and stability of the country. With the newer steps taken by the public messaging groups like limiting the number of forwards and holding the administrator of a group liable for any messages in the group has tried to control and limit the impact of any damage.
In the most striking case of Subramaniam Swami vs Union of India, the Supreme court clearly stated that it is the duty of one person to respect the dignity of the other. The offence of criminal defamation cannot be neglected or removed from the list of the restriction to Article 19(1)(a). The Court analyzed the meaning of the term “reputation” and “defamation”. It noted that reputation was an essential part of life, and it was protected under Article 21.
It also stated that the words uttered by such eminent persons are always noted by the common man and are let out into the public, so they should be more careful and thoughtful in the choice of the words and statements they make.
Personally, I believe the statements made by the Supreme Court should be implemented in the lives of the citizens as well. One should think about the consequence of the expression that they will be letting out. Words once said are like arrows let out of a bow which cannot be bought back. News must be kept at a check so that they can spread knowledge more rather than to incite or ignite misunderstandings. I truly believe that India is a country where the social fabric is knit with many threads of complex societal and social cultures. They all should be respected in both personal and public front.
Every citizen, on his or her behalf should take the responsibility to keep a check on the right and just use of the freedom for the upliftment of the individual along with the society.
Aishwarya Says:
I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.
If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.
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