Free Speech in the Indian Constitution: Background and Prospect
Pradyumna K. Tripathi · The Yale Law Journal · 1958
SINCE 1945, many new nations have been constructed by revolution, partition or voluntary grants of sovereignty.Written constitutions, commonly prepared in greater or less haste, have in one country after another defined the scope of the new government's powers and have declared the rights of citizens who had but recently been subjects with little voice in their own affairs.Some observers have viewed skeptically the repeated constitutional enunciation of "democratic freedoms."The skeptics have doubted that concepts deep-rooted in the experiences of Britain or the United States, for example, could effectively be transported to lands where different traditions and values had long prevailed.To some extent, the very existence of a free world hinges upon the validity of that skepticism.This Article undertakes to show that in at least one of the new nations-indeed, in one of the most important of them-the soil has been well prepared to nourish the basic freedom, the freedom to express differences of opinion.The Constitution of India embodies a detailed scheme of "ordered liberty," with a full-fledged parliamentary democracy and a system of judicial control to preserve individual rights even against a popular majority.But if the constitution were merely a form of words, unsupported by understanding and true sentiment, it would provide a facade behind which dangers to freedom might grow large and undetected.An understanding of Indian institutions is necessary to an appraisal of liberty's chance to survive, for without their support, the constitution would be an embodiment of empty platitudes. THE GUARANTEES OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTIONUpon realization of the dream of independence in 1947,1 India prepared and adopted a constitution, which became effective on January 26, 1950.Its objects, as declared in the preamble, are: "to secure to all its citizens: "JUSTICE, social, economic and political; "LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship; "EQUALITY of status and opportunity; and to promote among them all "FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the Nation."tFaculty of Law, University of Delhi.The author acknowledges the kind assistance of