Romesh Thappar case
Also called: Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras (1950) · Topic: Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Remedies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras (1950) is one of the first Supreme Court judgments on free speech. The Court held that freedom of the press is part of freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a), even though the press is not named there. At that time, Article 19(2) did not list "public safety" as a ground for limiting speech. So the State could not use it.
Example
The Madras government banned the journal Cross Roads from entering the state, on grounds of public safety. The Court struck down the ban. Parliament responded with the 1st Amendment in 1951. It added public order, friendly relations with foreign states and incitement to an offence to Article 19(2), along with the word "reasonable".
Don't confuse with
- Kedar Nath Singh case (1962): that case dealt with the sedition law, not with which grounds Article 19(2) lists.
Related concepts
- Right to freedom
- Freedom of speech and expression
- Freedom of the press
- Reasonable restrictions
- Restrictions on freedom of speech
- Kedar Nath Singh case
- Sedition
- Criminal defamation
- Shreya Singhal case
- Bijoe Emmanuel case