Offend, Shock, or Disturb

This book deserves an enthusiastic welcome from everyone interested in free speech issues in particular and comparative constitutional law in general. The Commonwealth Lawyer

Auteur

Gautam Bhatia, Advocate, High Court of Delhi

Texte du rabat

The book focuses on the role of courts in understanding and interpreting the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression, interrogating judicial premises and reasoning from the point of view of the text, structure, history of the Constitution, the philosophies of speech, as well as the reasoning of similarly-placed constitutional courts.

Résumé
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 expression under Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(2) of the Constitution of India, the 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.

Contenu

• **CONTENTS

*Preface
Acknowledgments
Table of Cases
Note on the Text
Introduction

• PART ONE: BACKGROUND

Chapter 1: Understanding Free Speech
Chapter 2: Common Concepts

Note: The Changing Faces of the Free Speech Clause

PART TWO: SUBVERSIVE SPEECH

Chapter 3: Public Order
Chapter 4: Sedition

PART THREE: FREE SPEECH AND CULTURAL REGULATION

Chapter 5: Obscenity and Pornography
Chapter 6: Hate Speech
Chapter 7: Film and Internet Censorship

PART FOUR: OTHER RESTRICTIONS

Chapter 8: Defamation, Privacy, and Injunctions
Chapter 9: Contempt of Court

PART FIVE: THE 'FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND EXPRESSION'

Chapter 10: The Meaning of 'Speech and Expression'
Chapter 11: The Meaning of 'Freedom': Free Speech and Economic Structure

PART SIX: NEW HORIZONS

Chapter 12: Surveillance, Net Neutrality, Shield Laws, and Copyright

*Conclusion
Postscript
Bibliography
Index
About the Author*