LEGAL RESEARCH AND MOOTCOURT

ASSIGNMENT-4
TOPIC- MEDIA’S RIGHT TO SPEECH

RONAK TANEJA
BBA-LLB (H) 2ND SEMESTER
 Media’s right to speech is given under Article 19(1)(a) “Freedom of press” .

 What is meant by “Freedom Of Press”?

1. To preserve the democratic way of life it is essential that people should have the
freedom of express their feelings and to make their views known to the people at
large. The press, a powerful medium of mass communication, should be free to play
its role in building a strong viable society. Denial of freedom of the press to citizens
would necessarily undermine the power to influence public opinion and be counter to
democracy.
2. Freedom of press is not specifically mentioned in article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution
and what is mentioned there is only freedom of speech and expression. In the
Constituent Assembly Debates it was made clear by Dr. Ambedkar, Chairman of the
Drafting Committee, that no special mention of the freedom of press was necessary at
all as the press and an an individual or a citizen were the same as far as their right of
expression was concerned.
3. It is an absence of statutory and administrative control on dissemination of
information, ideas, knowledge and thoughts.
4. The freedom of the press and of expression is guarded by the First Amendment to the
US Constitution which specifically lays down that this freedom be in no way abridge
by the laws.
5. It is not Indian Leaders were not aware of the US First Amendment or of Jefferson’s
famous declaration when he said that “Were it left me to decide whether we should
have a government without newspaper or newspapers without a government, I should
not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
6. Jawahar Lal Nehru echoed similar views “I would rather have a completely free press,
with all the dangers involved in the wrong use of that freedom, than a suppressed or
regulated press.” Voltair once said, “I do not agree with a word you say but I defend to
death your right to say it.”

 Development of the Meaning of Freedom of Press

1. Historically, the origin of the concept of freedom of press took place in the England.
From the earliest times, in the West, persecution for the expression of opinion even in
matter relating to science or philosophy was restored to by both the Church and the State,
to suppress alleged heresay, corruption of the youth or sedition. Such restraints, through
licensing and censorship, came to be accentuated after the invention of printing towards
 MEDIA’S RIGHT TO SPEECH
the latter part of the 15th Century, and the appearance of newspaper in the 17th Century, -
which demonstrated how powerful the press was as a medium of expression.
2. Shortly after their emergence, newspaper came to take up the cause of the Opposition
against monarchical absolutism, which in turn, led to different methods of suppression. It
is in protest against such governmental interference that freedom of the Press was built up
in England. Opposition to governmental interference, which had been brewing on for
some time, was supported by logical arguments by Milton in his Areopagitica (1644), for
instance, that free men must have the ‘liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely
according to conscience, above all liberties’. Any for of censorship was intolerable,
whether imposed by a royal decree or by legislation.
3. In fact, Milton's Areopagitica was a protest addressed to the long parliament that had
taken over licensing after the abolition of the Star Chamber. It was the result of such
agitation that in 1694 the House of Commons refused to renew the Licensing Act of 1662,
albeit on technical grounds.
4. The history of freedom of the press in England is thus a triumph of the people over the
power of the licensor.
5. Since there is neither a written constitution nor a guarantee of fundamental rights in
England, the concept of freedom of the press, like the broader concept of freedom of
speech, was fundamentally negative.
6. In other words, freedom of the press in England meant the right to print and publish
anything not prohibited by law or punishable by law, such as sedition, contempt of court,
obscenity, libel, blasphemy.

 Landmark Cases on Freedom of Press

1. Romesh Thappar v/s State of Madras
a) In this case, Patanjali Sastri CJ observed: “Freedom of speech and of the press lay
down the foundation of all democratic organisations, for without free political
discussion no public education, so essential for the proper functioning of the
process of popular Government, is possible.”While drafting the Constitution of
India the frames faced a dilemma that, whether to have separate legislation just
like the first amendment of USA6, or to follow the English way, where freedom of
press is included in freedom of speech and expression. In India, draftsmen decided
not to have a separate law for freedom of the press, since the editors of the press
or the manager are all citizens and therefore when they choose to write in the
newspaper they are merely exercising their right of freedom of speech and
expression and therefore no special mention is necessary of the freedom of the
press at all. And therefore, the same is protected under Article 19(1) (a) of the
Constitution of India. Further, in the case of Romesh Thappar7, Patanjali Sastri CJ
pointed out that “the framers of the constitution may well have reflected, with
Madison who was ‘the leading spirit in preparation of the First Amendment of the
Federal Constitution’, that ‘it is better to leave a few of its noxious branches to
their luxuriant growth than, by pruning them away, to injure the vigour of those
yielding the proper fruits.’”
b) Press is an essential component of a democratic set up, since through this the
citizen is called upon to make political decisions, must be comprehensively
 informed, know the opinions of others, and be able to weigh them against each
other. The press keeps this dialogue alive, it provides the information, adopts its
own point of view, and thus works as a direction giving force to public debate. It
stands as a permanent medium of communication and control between the people
and their elected representatives in Parliament and government.
2. Brij Bhushan v State of Delhi

a) Pre-censorship on publication of any news or views, unless justified under Article

19 (2) of the Constitution of India, 1950, violates freedom of speech and
expression. The court struck down the order issued under Section 7(1)(c), East
Punjab Safety Act, 1950, directing the editor and publisher of a newspaper to
submit scrutiny in duplicate before publication. The court rejected the imposition
of pre-censorship as a restriction on the liberty of the press.

3. Sankal Papers (P) Ltd. v Union of India

a) In this case, the apex court while striking off the Government’s order to the
newspaper agency to either increase the price or decrease the number of pages, held
that the right of freedom of speech cannot be taken away with the object of placing
restrictions on the business activities of a citizen.