Talk But With Care: On Freedom Of Speech, Supreme Court Advises Restraint
Freedom of speech and expression is important but citizens must exercise restraint, the Supreme Court said today while hearing an appeal over a controversial post on X.
The petition was from Wajahat Khan, who had complained against social media influencer Sharmistha Panoli over her communal videos on social media on Operation Sindoor.
But he was arrested by the Kolkata police when his communal tweets made earlier surfaced. Several police cases were also filed against him across the country.
He had approached the Supreme Court seeking that the cases against him filed across six states -- including Assam, Bengal, Maharashtra, Haryana and Delhi -- be scrapped or clubbed together.
"We are talking about citizens! If they want to enjoy freedom of speech and expression, there has to be some restraint. They can't abuse freedom this way," Justice BV Nagarathana said today, referring to the larger issue of citizens misusing and abusing freedom, which, he said "clogs" the legal system.
"Why can't citizens regulate Themselves? They just press a button and everything is posted online... It an abuse of the freedom," he added.
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