Offend, Shock, or Disturb: Free Speech under the Indian Constitution

Offend, Shock, or Disturb is a comprehensive examination of free speech under the Indian Constitution. It explores Indian free speech jurisprudence from a doctrinal, comparative, and philosophical perspective. Taking as its point of departure the constitutional guarantee of the freedom of speech and expressionaArticles 19(1)(a) and 19(2) of the Constitution of Indiaathe book discusses, clause by clause, the development of law from colonial times to present-day controversies. Issues relating to public order, sedition, obscenity and pornography, hate speech, film and online censorship, privacy and defamation, the contempt of court, the nature of speech and the relationship between free speech and economic structure, and the inter-relationships between them have been comprehensively examined. As free speech campaigns gain intensity by the day, the book presents the myriad understandings and limitations of the free speech law, and suggests possible pathways for the future.

PART ONE: BACKGROUND ; PART TWO: SUBVERSIVE SPEECH ; PART THREE: FREE SPEECH AND CULTURAL REGULATION ; PART FOUR: OTHER RESTRICTIONS ; PART FIVE: THE 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION' ; PART SIX: NEW HORIZONS