## Colophon tags:: url:: https://indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/ date:: [[]] %% title:: A Supreme Court ruling that continues to guardrail free speech in India type:: [[clipped-note]] author:: [[@indianexpress.com]] %% ## Notes > Incidentally, Communist ideology found an unlikely comrade that day. On the same day as the Thapar verdict, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict in Brij Bhushan v State of Delhi, over a similar censorship of the Organiser, the mouthpiece of the RSS. It was an article in the magazine on riots in East Pakistan that had led to its ban in Delhi. Veteran lawyer N C Chatterjee, father of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, argued for the RSS. The verdict was short since the judges had given their reasoning in Thapar’s case. Stung by these verdicts that went against the State’s power to curb free speech, the government eventually amended the law on free speech, leading to The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, which came into effect on June 18, 1951. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/CdKqeNvAEe-ctaulu81Wzw/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) > the amendment introduced ‘reasonable restrictions’ on the right to free speech, including “public order”, “incitement to an offence” and “friendly relations with foreign states” as grounds for restricting free speech. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/EgZYytvAEe-K89sigZnW8g/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) > the underlying reasoning of the Thapar ruling — that laws restricting freedoms must be narrowly tailored for the purpose and that the Supreme Court will guard against arbitrary use of such laws — continue to be relevant. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/GEsIrNvAEe-8QveSrdsPQQ/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) > On the significance of the ruling, former Supreme Court Justice B N Srikrishna told The Indian Express, “If you look at the early days of the Supreme Court, especially in the 50s and 60s, the Supreme Court led the civil liberties movement in India. The Romesh Thapar ruling is from that era, where the court does not grandstand but simply stands guard.” — [view in context](https://hyp.is/NjUDBNvAEe-SJN-a-cTgRw/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) - Annotation: "where the court does not grandstand but simply stands guard" - what a line. > Incidentally, Communist ideology found an unlikely comrade that day. On the same day as the Thapar verdict, the Supreme Court delivered a verdict in Brij Bhushan v State of Delhi, over a similar censorship of the Organiser, the mouthpiece of the RSS. It was an article in the magazine on riots in East Pakistan that had led to its ban in Delhi. Veteran lawyer N C Chatterjee, father of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, argued for the RSS. The verdict was short since the judges had given their reasoning in Thapar’s case. Stung by these verdicts that went against the State’s power to curb free speech, the government eventually amended the law on free speech, leading to The Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, which came into effect on June 18, 1951. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/CdKqeNvAEe-ctaulu81Wzw/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) > the amendment introduced ‘reasonable restrictions’ on the right to free speech, including “public order”, “incitement to an offence” and “friendly relations with foreign states” as grounds for restricting free speech. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/EgZYytvAEe-K89sigZnW8g/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) > the underlying reasoning of the Thapar ruling — that laws restricting freedoms must be narrowly tailored for the purpose and that the Supreme Court will guard against arbitrary use of such laws — continue to be relevant. — [view in context](https://hyp.is/GEsIrNvAEe-8QveSrdsPQQ/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) > On the significance of the ruling, former Supreme Court Justice B N Srikrishna told The Indian Express, “If you look at the early days of the Supreme Court, especially in the 50s and 60s, the Supreme Court led the civil liberties movement in India. The Romesh Thapar ruling is from that era, where the court does not grandstand but simply stands guard.” — [view in context](https://hyp.is/NjUDBNvAEe-SJN-a-cTgRw/indianexpress.com/article/india/a-supreme-court-ruling-that-continues-to-guardrail-free-speech-in-india-9799452/) - Annotation: "where the court does not grandstand but simply stands guard" - what a line.