“As regards these decisions of the American Courts,
it should be borne in mind that though the First
Amendment to the Constitution of the United State
reading "Congress shall make no law.... abridging
the freedom of speech..." appears to confer no
power on the Congress to impose any restriction on
the exercise of the guaranteed right, still it has
always been understood that the freedom
guaranteed is subject to the police power - the
scope of which however has not been defined with
precision or uniformly. It is on the basis of the police
power to abridge that freedom that the constitutional
validity of laws penalising libels, and those relating
to sedition, or to obscene publications etc., has
been sustained. The resultant flexibility of the
restrictions that could be validly imposed renders
the American decisions inapplicable to and without
much use for resolving the questions arising under
Art. 19(1) (a) or (b) of our Constitution wherein the
grounds on which limitations might be placed on the
guaranteed right are set out with definiteness and
precision.” ( At page 378)
19.
But when it comes to understanding the impact and
content of freedom of speech, in Indian Express Newspapers
(Bombay) Private Limited & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.,
(1985) 2 SCR 287, Venkataramiah,J. stated:
“While examining the constitutionality of a law
which is alleged to contravene Article 19 (1) (a) of
the Constitution, we cannot, no doubt, be solely
guided by the decisions of the Supreme Court of the
United States of America. But in order to understand
the basic principles of freedom of speech and
expression and the need for that freedom in a
19