Published on: 6 August 2023 at 22:59 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: R. Rajagopal V. State of T.N. (1994)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that Government does not have any powers under any statue under the law to impose a prior restraint upon the press/media before the said material is published in the public domain.
It is further held that the Government, local authority and other organs and institutions exercising governmental power are concerned, they cannot maintain a suit for damages for defaming them.
However, the Government has a right to prosecute under the provisions of Official Secrets Act, 1923, or Section 499/500 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 or any similar enactment or provision having the force of law does not bind the press or media.
22. We may now consider whether the State or its officials have the authority in law to impose a prior restraint upon publication of material defamatory of the State or of the officials, as the case may be? We think not. No law empowering them to do so is brought to our notice. As observed in New York Times v. United States [(1971) 403 US 713 : 29 L Ed 2d 822 (1971)] , popularly known as the Pentagon papers case, “any system of prior restraints of (freedom of) expression comes to this Court bearing a heavy presumption against its constitutional validity” and that in such cases, the Government “carries a heavy burden of showing justification for the imposition of such a restraint”. We must accordingly hold that no such prior restraint or prohibition of publication can be imposed by the respondents upon the proposed publication of the alleged autobiography of “Auto Shankar” by the petitioners.
This cannot be done either by the State or by its officials. In other words, neither the Government nor the officials who apprehend that they may be defamed, have the right to impose a prior restraint upon the publication of the alleged autobiography of Auto Shankar. The remedy of public officials/public figures, if any, will arise only after the publication and will be governed by the principles indicated herein.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra