LANDMARK CASE

Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras

AIR 1950 SC 124 · Supreme Court of India · Constitutional law

At a glance

Citation: AIR 1950 SC 124
Court: Supreme Court of India
Area of law: Constitutional law
In one line: Yes. Freedom of speech includes freedom of circulation, and 'public order' as then worded did not justify the ban.

1 Facts

The Madras government banned the entry of the journal 'Cross Roads' into the state.

2 Issue

Does a ban on circulation violate freedom of speech?

3 What the court decided

Yes. Freedom of speech includes freedom of circulation, and 'public order' as then worded did not justify the ban.

4 Why it matters

It led to the First Amendment widening the grounds of restriction.

5 Think about it

How did Parliament respond, and was that response justified?

6 Analyse it yourself

Read the full judgment from an official source or a law database, then brief it in seven steps: facts, issues, arguments, decision, ratio, obiter and significance. Always check the citation before you rely on it.

7 More cases on Constitutional law

A.K. Gopalan v. State of Madras AIR 1950 SC 27
ADM Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla (1976) 2 SCC 521
Air India v. Nergesh Meerza (1981) 4 SCC 335
Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib Sehravardi (1981) 1 SCC 722
Anuj Garg v. Hotel Association of India (2008) 3 SCC 1
Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020) 3 SCC 637

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