NDLI: Ram Singh Vs. The State of Delhi and Another

Content Provider	Supreme Court of India
e-ISSN	30484839
Language	English
Access Restriction	NDLI
Subject Keyword	22 (5) Constitution of lndia Arts. 19(1) & (2)
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Law Judgement
Jurisdiction	India
Act(s) Referred	Constitution of India
Case Type	Writ Petition
Court	Supreme Court of India
Disposal Nature	Petition Dismissed
Headnote	Constitution of India, Arts. 19(1) & (2), 22 (5) - Freedom of speech-Preventive detention to prevent speeches with a view to maintain public order - Omission to state objectionable passages ill grounds supplied - Legality of detention. The District Magistrate of Delhi, "being satisfied that with a view to the maintenance of public order in Delhi it is necessary to do so" ordered the detention of the petitioners under s. 3 of the Preventive Detention Act, 1950. The grounds of detention communicated to the petitioners were "that your · speeches generally in the past and particularly on the 13th and 15th August, 1950, at public meetings in Delhi has been such as to excite disaffection between Hindus and Mussalmans and thereby prejudice the maintenance of public order in Delhi and that in order to prevent you from making such speeches it is necessary to make the said order." The petitioners contended that under the Constitution the maintenance of public order was not a purpose for which restriction can be imposed on the freedom of speech guaranteed by Art. 19 (1) and that the grounds communicated were too vague and indefinite to enable them Io make a representation and the provisions of Art. 22 (5) of the Constitution were not complied with, and their detention was therefore ultra vires and illegal : Held by the Full Court (KANIA C. J., PATANJALI SASTRI, MEHR CHAND MAHAJAN, S.R. DAS and VIVIAN BOSE JJ.) that though personal liberty is sufficiently comprehensive to include the freedoms enumerated in Art. 19 (1) and its deprivation would result in the extinction of those freedoms, the Constitution has treated these civil liberties as distinct fundamental rights and made separate provisions in Arts. 19, 21 and 22 as to the limitations and conditions subject to which alone they could be taken away or abridged. Consequently, even though a law which restricts freedom of speech and expression which i.s not directed solely against the undermining of the security of the State or its overthrow but is concerned generally in the interests of public order may not fall within the reservation of cl. (2) of Art. 19 and may therefore be void, :in order of preventive detention cannot be held to be invalid merely because the detention is made with a view to prevent the making of speeches prejudicial to the maintenance of public order. The decisions in Brij Bhushan and Another v. The Stale of Delhi and Romesh Thappar v. The State Madras are not inconsistent with. the decision in A.K. Gopalan v. The State. Held per KANIA C. J., PATANJALI SASTRI, MEHR CHAND MAHAJAN, S.R. DAS and VIVIAN BOSE JJ. dissenting) - As the time and place at which the speeches were alleged to have been made and their general nature and effect, namely, that they were such as to excite disaffection between Hindus and Muslims were also stated in the grounds communicated, they were not too vague or indefinite to enable the petitioners to make an effective representation and the detention cannot be held to be illegal on the ground that Art. 22 ( 5) was not complied with. Per MEHR CHAND MAHAJAN and BoSE JJ. (contra ) - In the absence of any indication in the grounds as to the nature of the words used by the petitioners in their speeches, from which an inference has been drawn against them, the petitioners would not be able fully to exercise their fundamental right of making a representation and as there were no such indications in the grounds supplied, there was a non~compliance with the provisions of cl. (5) of Art. 22 and the detention was illegal.
Judge	Honble Mr. Justice Patanjali Sastri
Neutral Citation	1951 INSC 23
Petitioner	Ram Singh
Respondent	The State Of Delhi And Another
SCR	[1951] 1 S.C.R. 451
Judgement Date	1951-04-06
Case Number	21

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