JOHN STUART MILL, in his essay On Liberty, unleashes the full fury of his pen

in defense of the rights of the individual from the vast powers of the State and
the inroads of societal pressure. But even as he draws a sacrosanct line
demarcating the limits on individuality beyond which the State cannot tread -
asserting that "individual spontaneity" must be allowed to flourish with very
little regard to social interference - he veritably acknowledges that the exercise of
rights and liberties is imbued with a civic obligation, which society is justified in
enforcing at all cost, against those who would endeavor to withhold fulfillment.
Thus he says -
The sole end for which mankind is warranted, individually or collectively, in interfering with
the liberty of action of any of their number, is self-protection. The only purpose for which power
can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to
prevent harm to others.
Parallel to individual liberty is the natural and illimitable right of the State to self-
preservation. With the end of maintaining the integrity and cohesiveness of the
body politic, it behooves the State to formulate a system of laws that would
compel obeisance to its collective wisdom and inflict punishment for non-
observance.