The Importance Of Free Speech

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Like rights and duties are indissolubly fused, right to freedom of expression cannot be without corresponding duties. It was once said by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes that you cannot falsely shout “fire!” in a crowded theatre. This will result in stampede. The consequences of what one says or does may be far wider or serious than anticipated. So this idea of freedom is not an absolute right in any nation, nevertheless, restriction on it is either express or implicit. One of the grounds which I would like delve in this chapter is defamation as reasonable ground for shadowing this idea of freedom. The law on defamation preserves the inherent right of honour and the esteem of every individual. Both these i.e., expression and reputation rights…show more content…
U.O.I, LIC v. Manu Bhai, etc. where this right has been preserves but one cannot be allowed to express unjustly. The word free is itself very vague and indeterminate so it must take it colour from the context it is used. Free speech does not mean free speech; it means speech hedged in by all the laws. One can fairly criticize as it is very much required in a democratic like India where people are needed to be informed citizen but shall not transgress its limitation to deprave other person’s right to…show more content…
Burnside No. 2, 4 L. R. Ir. 556, Baron PALLES said: "That a fair and bona fide comment on a matter of public interest is an excuse of what would otherwise be a defamatory publication is admitted. If a person is making a comment about any person then it must be fair in the sense that the statement is justified and is in the interest of public. A man cannot invent any fact and comment on it on the supposition that the facts are true or just to have fun out of it rather he must be in a position to prove the fact on which the criticism is based and it must be fair and bonafide. Thus if a publication is untrue and defamatory about any person without lawful justification then that amount to defamation. In other words a statement is said to be defamatory when it injures a person’s reputation and exposes him to hatred, ridicule, or contempt, or which cause him to shunned or avoided, or which has tendency to injure him in his profession, office or calling. The modern concept of defamation was stated in USA in Rosenblatt v. Baer , where the Court stated that it is the right of a man to protection of his own reputation from unjustified invasion and wrongful hurt and it reflects no more than our basic concept of the essential
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