Freedom of speech sacrosanct: SC while dismissing plea against An Insignificant Man

The Supreme Court on Thursday held that freedom of speech and expression is sacrosanct, while dismissing a writ petition seeking deletion of certain scenes from the documentary on Arvind Kejriwal titled An Insignificant Man. The plea also sought a stay on the release of the documentary..The order was passed by a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud..The plea was filed by Nachiketa Walhekar, a former BJP worker, who had sought deletion of specific scenes from the documentary in which he was shown throwing ink on Delhi CM Kejriwal..It was filed through AoR Divyesh Pratap Singh and argued by advocate Pushkar Sharma. .The petitioner contended that not deleting the scenes from the documentary would cause great prejudice to him and would be violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution..The Bench, while dismissing the petition, made some key observations in its order..“It is worthy to mention that freedom of speech and expression is sacrosanct and the said right should not be ordinarily interfered with….…Be it noted, a film or a drama or a novel or a book is a creation of art. An artist has his own freedom to express himself in a manner which is not prohibited in law and such prohibitions are not read by implication to crucify the rights of expressive mind.”.It was further observed that a thought provoking film should not mean that it has to be “didactic or in any way puritanical” and that limitations can only be allowed as prescribed in law. Moreover,.“The Courts are to be extremely slow to pass any kind of restraint order in such a situation and should allow the respect that a creative man enjoys in writing a drama, a play, a playlet, a book on philosophy, or any kind of thought that is expressed on the celluloid or theater, etc.”.Read the order:.Image taken from here.