Upholding the right to freedom of speech and expression, the Supreme Court recently set aside a ban by the government of Uttar Pradesh on the screening of a film. Allowing an appeal in Prakash Jha Productions v Union of India and referring to a 1989 ruling by it, the court said: “in a democracy it is not necessary that everyone should sing the same song”.
Holding that public discussions and debate on social issues are necessary for smooth functioning of a healthy democracy, the court said screening of the film, Aarakshan, could not be stopped once the Central Board of Film Certification had cleared it for public viewing. It also said that a state government did not have the jurisdiction to delete portions of the film it thought to be sensitive in nature, as it amounted to exercising power of pre-censorship.
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The update of court judgments is compiled by Bhasin & Co, Advocates, a corporate law firm based in New Delhi. The authors can be contacted at lbhasin@bhasinco.in or lbhasin@gmail.com. Readers should not act on the basis of this information without seeking professional legal advice.
