The bench made the observation as it decided an appeal by one Devidas Ramachandra Tuljapurkar, editor and publisher of a bulletin magazine of All India Bank Employees Association.
Source/Credit: Express News Service
By Express News | May 15, 2015
"Freedom of speech and expression has to be given a broad canvas, but it has to have inherent limitations, said SC.
The Supreme Court held on Thursday that freedom of speech had “constitutional limitation attached to it” and this right cannot be exercised to attribute obscene expletives to “historically respected personality” such as Mahatma Gandhi.
A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and P C Pant said the fundamental right to speech and expression, as envisaged under Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution cannot be given absolute.
“We accept the proposition that there should not be narrow or condensed interpretation of freedom of speech and expression, but that does not mean that there cannot be any limit. Constriction is permissible under Article 19(2) of the Constitution… this right cannot be put in the compartment of absoluteness. There is constitutional limitation attached to it,” said the bench.
The SC underlined the “contemporary community standards test” as the yardstick for a court to judge obscenity under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code. “Contemporary community standards test is the main criterion and it has to be appreciated on the foundation of modern perception, regard being had to the criterion that develops the literature. There can neither be stagnation of ideas nor there can be staticity of ideals,” it added.
Poetic license and artistic freedom, the apex court said would not immune a person from prosecution if the boundary is transgressed, making the piece of writing as obscene. The bench made the observation as it decided an appeal by one Devidas Ramachandra Tuljapurkar, editor and publisher of a bulletin magazine of All India Bank Employees Association.
Tuljapurkar had challenged his prosecution for publishing in 1994 a poem by Marathi poet Vasant Dattatray Gujjar. The poem “Gandhi Mala Bhetla Hota (I met Gandhi)” had allegedly attributed obscene and vulgar expletives to the leader. The Bombay High Court dismissed Tuljapurkar’s plea to drop prosecution under Section 292 (sale, publication of obscene books) of the IPC. The bench found no fault with the HC order but opted to let him off the hook in view of the unconditional apology tendered by him. It, however, said that the author of the poem would be left to defend himself in accordance with the law and this verdict
Read original post here: India: Freedom of speech is not absolute, says apex court
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