The Secretary, Ministry Of ... vs Cricket Association Of Bengal & ... on 9 February, 1995 right to use an access channel, even if available all the time, would be to give every adult a worthless right to use it for a second a year. Limited access rights, enjoyed only by important political and social groups may be more valuable. But even their recognition would involve some interference with the editorial freedom of channel controllers and programme schedulers and it may be more difficult as a Consequence to achieve a balanced range or programmes. Further, a channel might find it hard to create any clear identity for itself, if it had to devote a substantial amount of time to relaying the programmes made by pressure groups. There are also practical objections to access rights. It may be very difficult to decide, for example, which groups are to be given access, and when and how often such programmes are to be shown. There is a danger that some groups will be unduly privileged. These points weigh particularly heavily against the recognition of constitutional rights, for courts are not competent to formulate them with any precision. Dealing with the constitutional rights of access to the broadcasting media, the author concludes that individuals and groups do not have constitutional rights of access to the broadcasting media. Access rights can only be framed effectively by legislature or by specialist administrative agencies. It does not mean that statutory or other access rights do not have a constitutional dimension. The courts may lay down that some provisions should be made for access as a matter of constitutional policy. This, however, does not mean that there are individual constitutional rights to access. 43. In this connection, the author also points out that the development of cable poses new access problems. Operator of the cable may himself have rights of free speech which would be infringed by a requirement to honour access claims. The scarcity and economic arguments which are employed to justify broadcasting regulation and, therefore, access provision, may be less applicable in the context of cable. 44. We may now summarise the law on the freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 [1] (a) as restricted by Article 19 [2]. The freedom of speech and expression includes right to acquire information and to disseminate it. Freedom of speech and expression is necessary, for self expression which is an important means of free conscience and self fulfillment. It enables people to contribute to debates of social and moral issues. It is the best way to find a truest model of anything, since it is only through it, that the widest possible range of ideas can circulate. It is the only vehicle of political discourse so essential to democracy. Equally important is the role it plays in facilitating artistic and scholarly endeavours of all sorts. The right to communicate, therefore, includes right to communicate through any media that is available whether print or electronic or audio-visual such as advertisement, movie, article, speech etc. That is why freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of the press. The freedom of the press in terms includes right to circulate and also to determine the volume of such circulation. This freedom includes the freedom to communicate or circulate one's opinion without interference to as large a population in the country as well as abroad as impossible to reach. 45. This fundamental right can be limited only by reasonable restrictions under a law made for purpose mentioned in Article 19 [2] of the Constitution. 46. The burden is on the authority to justify the restrictions. Public order is not the same thing as public safety and hence no restrictions can be placed on the right to freedom of speech and Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/539407/ 26