Freedom of speech most abused right in recent times: Supreme Court on Tablighi case

Highlighting the abuse of freedom of speech in India, The Supreme Court on Thursday pulled up the Centre for filing an affidavit short on details in a plea seeking strong action against media houses for demonizing the Muslim community in connection with the Tablighi Jamaat event.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde, which was hearing pleas of Jamiat Ulama I Hind and others alleging that a section of media was spreading communal hatred over Tablighi Jamaat congregation during the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, pulled up the Centre for its "evasive" and "brazen" affidavit on the issue.

Freedom of speech and expression is the most abused right in recent times, the apex court said.

A bench told the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta: "You cannot treat the court the way you are treating it in this case."

The bench observed this when senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Jamaat, said the Centre in its affidavit has stated that petitioners are trying to muzzle freedom of speech and expression.

The apex court sought an affidavit from the I&B secretary with details of steps taken in the past to stop motivated media reporting in such cases.

The bench said it wants to know, does the government have any powers to ban or question the TV broadcast and insisted the Centre should file an affidavit detailing steps it had taken to stop broadcasts in TV channels which targeted a single community.

The observations from the top court came during the hearing of a plea led Jamait Ulama-i-Hind seeking action against media reports indulging in communalizing the Tablighi Jamaat meeting held in Delhi in March.

The pleas have been filed through advocate Ejaz Maqbool and Adeel Ahmed.

(With inputs from agencies)