Indian courts have consistently upheld and championed the fundamental right to free speech and expression enshrined in the Constitution. This includes the right to put forward different and contrary views, right or wrong. A recent instance saw the Supreme Court of India striking down Uttar Pradesh's ban on the film Aarakshan. This article by A.P. Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts, sets out key issues...

-The Hindu None of the reasons given by the Tamil Nadu government for imposing a ban on the film Dam 999 holds water. The right to freedom of speech and expression, as enshrined in the Constitution and upheld time and again by the Supreme Court of India, is too dear to be sacrificed at the altar of political contingency. Everything the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, Debendranath Sarangi, stated about the film...

-The Times of India   By failing to honour a Madras High Court order directing the territorial administration to notify the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 before November 1 this year, the Puducherry government has earned the dubious distinction of being one of the last states in the country to comply. The high court in its order dated August 1, directed the Puducherry government to notify the...

1894 law should immediately make way for fair enactment Observing that the 1894 Act has become outdated as it does not provide for rehabilitation of persons displaced from their land, although their livelihood is affected by compulsory acquisition, a Bench of the Supreme Court has called for replacement of the law without delay. Writing the judgment, Justice R.M. Lodha said all concerned felt that the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act “do...

Some of the recent cases in the higher courts bring into sharp focus the dilemmas on the death penalty. ON October 10, the Supreme Court Bench of Justices Aftab Alam and C.K. Prasad stayed the execution of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving assailant in the November 2008 Mumbai terror attack, by admitting his appeal against the death sentence awarded to him by the Bombay High Court. The Bench wondered whether Kasab deserved...