“Give me the liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to
conscience above all liberties.”
-John Milton
PROLOGUE
Freedom of speech and expression and the right to have peaceful protest is an essential ingredient of democracy. The essence of free speech and expression is the ability to think, evaluate, and speak freely and right to express one’s own conviction and opinions freely either by words spoken orally or in writing. Freedom to express opinions and ideas without any hindrance and without any fear of punishment plays a very significant role in the development of that particular society. It is the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution which allows us to speak our minds, have a different opinion and to criticize every action of the government which is arbitrary in a reasonable manner.*1
Justice D.Y Chandrachud was of the opinion that, “employment of state machinery to curb dissent instils fears and creates a chilling atmosphere on free speech which violates the rule of law and detracts from the constitutional vision of a pluralist society.”*2
RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH AND PROTEST
“The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it has been done. The most stringent protection of a speech would not protect the man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing panic. It does not even protect a man from an injunction against uttering words that have all the effect of force the question in every case is whether the words used in such circumstances are of the nature that expressly refers to one’s man freedom.”3
The government by virtue of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Part III of the Indian Constitution cannot restrict the rights of the citizen only in case if their acts follow under the reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution of India.
TWO INTERPRETATIONS OF RIGHTS
“Democracy is based essentially on free debate and discussions for that is the only corrective of government action in a democratic setup. If democracy means the government of the people and by the people, it is very obvious that every citizen must be entitled to participate in the democratic process and in order to enable him intelligently exercise his rights of making a choice, free and general discussion of the public matters is absolutely essential.”4
Justice Frankfurter with regard to the two interpretations of rights has applied the principle of balancing of interest which emphasized the freedom of speech and expression and right to protest is not itself a touchstone. The Constitution is not unmindful of other important interests such as public order if free expression of ideas is not found to be consistent with the overbalancing considerations. The freedom guaranteed under Article 19 has been considered as the first condition of liberty and in this way, it has been considered as the mother of all liberties.*5
CONCLUSION
“No man can be grateful at cost of his honour, no women can be grateful at cost
of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of his liberty”. - Daniel O Connell
If the maintenance of democracy is the foundation of free speech and expression, society is equally entitled to regulate freedom of speech and expression by democratic expression. Thus, no one can interfere with the liberty of others. Each person is entitled to maintain its dignity and reputation. The right to free speech and protest is considered as one of the core principles on which democracy survives and thrives.
This Article is written by Pranav Kumar Kaushal. He is currently pursuing his B.A.LL.B (Hons.) at Bahra University and he is in the 5th year.
REFERENCES:
1. Drishti, Right to protest in a free society” (February 14, 2020) https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/right-to-protest-in-a-free-society.
2. Press Trust of India, “Attack on dissent strikes at the heart of dialogue based democracy” Justice Chandrachud, India Today (February 15,2020 21:37 PM) https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/attack-on-dissent-strikes-at-the-heart-of-dialogue-based-democracy-justice-chandrachud-1646821-2020-02-15.
3 Schenck v. United States (249 U.S. 47 1919).
4 Maneka Gandhi v Union of India A.I.R. 1978 S.C. 597 (India)
5 Prachi Darji, “Freedom of speech and expression in India” My Advo, (August 13, 2019) https://www.myadvo.in/blog/freedom-of-speech-and-expression-in-india/.
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