the heads of public order, defamation, incitement to an offence
and decency or morality.
21.
Under our constitutional scheme, as stated earlier, it is not
open to the State to curtail freedom of speech to promote the
general public interest. In Sakal Papers (P) Ltd. & Ors. v.
Union of India, [1962] 3 S.C.R. 842, this Court said:
“It may well be within the power of the State to
place, in the interest of the general public,
restrictions upon the right of a citizen to carry on
business but it is not open to the State to achieve
this object by directly and immediately curtailing any
other freedom of that citizen guaranteed by the
Constitution and which is not susceptible of
abridgment on the same grounds as are set out in
clause (6) of Article 19. Therefore, the right of
freedom of speech cannot be taken away with the
object of placing restrictions on the business
activities of a citizen. Freedom of speech can be
restricted only in the interests of the security of the
State, friendly relations with foreign State, public
order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt
of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. It
cannot, like the freedom to carry on business, be
curtailed in the interest of the general public. If a law
directly affecting it is challenged, it is no answer that
the restrictions enacted by it are justifiable under
clauses (3) to (6). For, the scheme of Article 19 is to
enumerate different freedoms separately and then
to specify the extent of restrictions to which they
may be subjected and the objects for securing
which this could be done. A citizen is entitled to
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