The Supreme Court has refused to impose more restrictions on the freedom of speech of ministers, MPs, and MLAs. On Tuesday, a five-judge bench in the Supreme Court said that necessary provisions already exist in Article 19 (2) of the Constitution for this. The court said that for any objectionable statement, only the minister issuing it should be held responsible. Government should not be responsible for this.
In a petition filed in the Supreme Court, there was a demand to make guidelines on freedom of speech for people holding public positions. The matter of fixing the limit of rhetoric for politicians started in 2016 with the rhetoric of Azam Khan, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, in the Bulandshahr gang rape case. Azam had called the Bulandshahr gang rape of July 2016 a political conspiracy. Only after this, the matter reached the Supreme Court.
The court said – the minister is responsible for his statement
The five-judge constitution bench was headed by Justice SA Nazeer. At the same time, Justice BR Gavai, Justice AS Bopanna, Justice V Ramasubramaniam, and Justice BV Nagaratna were also involved in this. A five-judge bench said that the government cannot be held responsible for the statement of a minister. The minister is responsible for this. However, Justice Nagaratna's opinion differed from that of the Constitution Bench.
Justice Nagaratna's opinion differs from the four judges
Justice Nagaratna said- Apart from Article 19(2), not much restriction can be imposed on freedom of expression. , However, if a person makes derogatory statements as a minister, then the government can be held responsible for such statements. But, if the statements of ministers are sporadic, and do not align with the stand of the government, then they will be treated as personal remarks.
The Supreme Court reserved the decision on 15 November
The Supreme Court reserved its decision in this matter on 15 November. During this, the court had said that people sitting on public posts should not do such things, which are derogatory to the countrymen. During the hearing, the court said that this behavior is part of our constitutional culture and for this, it is not necessary to frame a code of conduct for people holding public office.
The case started with the Bulandshahr gangrape case
On July 29, 2016, the case of gang rape came to light in Bulandshahr. On this, Azam Khan, who was a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government, made an absurd statement, after which a demand was made to frame guidelines on freedom of speech for people holding public positions.
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