Article 19 — Six Fundamental Freedoms and Reasonable Restrictions

A group of students plans a peaceful protest at Azad Maidan against a fee hike. A newspaper prints a sharp editorial about the minister. A vada pav seller wants to set up a stall outside the station. All three are exercising freedoms the Constitution promises. But the police can refuse the maidan permission, the law of defamation can reach the editor, and the municipality can license the stall. How far can the State cut into these freedoms before a court says it has gone too far? Article 19 gives both the freedoms and the limits.

In two minutes

Article 19(1) gives citizens six freedoms: speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence and profession or trade; clauses (2) to (6) let the State impose only reasonable restrictions for the specific grounds listed, and the court decides whether a restriction is reasonable.

The rest of this chapter

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