To the dismayingly frequent blows to freedom of expression in India, there is now one more, in the form of four questions a Supreme Court bench has asked. “(iii) Whether the statements do come within the ambit and sweep of freedom of speech and expression or exceed the boundary that is not permissible? Freedom of expression is a right, not a privilege; it is not for the state to extend it as a benefit by “allowing” the people to use the right. As it is, freedom of expression is not absolute in India; there are “reasonable restrictions” to the right, which narrow the scope of the right considerably. How many erosions can the right to free expression withstand before it gets transformed into something else?

Source: Mint September 07, 2016 19:18 UTC