- The right to read, and be read
Tributes continue to flow acclaiming the Supreme Court for its judgment delivered in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union of India, where it recognised the existence of a fundamental right to privacy. The judgment has been hailed for its erudition, for its analytic rigour, and, more than anything else, for placing civil liberties at the heart of our constitutional discourse. But just weeks later, we’re left grappling with the court’s proclivity for illiberalism in Poojaya Sri Jagadguru Maate Mahadevi v. Government of Karnataka. On September 20, the court upheld a ban on a book without so much as considering the implications that such sanctions have on free speech. The order is the latest example in a litany of cases, going back to the court’s inception, which calls into question the commonly held notion of our highest judiciary serving as a custodian of fundamental rights. In cases such as this one, the court doesn’t see rights as trumps, but rather as abstract notions that lie at the state’s whimsical behest. Maate Mahadevi’s book, Basava Vachana Deepthi, was banned in 1998, when the State of Karnataka invoked Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). This law allows the state to forfeit and suspend publications that it deems to be in violation of certain provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). In this case, the government found that the book’s contents appeared to infringe Section 295A of the IPC, which criminalises speech that hurts religious sentiments. Needless to say, both Section 95 of the CrPC and Section 295A of the IPC are remnants of India’s colonial past, and ought to really have no place in a modern, liberal democracy.
MEANINGS AND WORDS
1) Acclaiming
Meaning: Praise enthusiastically and publicly.
Example: The conference was acclaimed as a considerable success.
Synonyms: Praise, Applaud
Antonyms: Criticize, Unsung
2) Hailed
Meaning: Hail falls.
Example: It hailed so hard we had to stop.
Synonyms: Beat, Shower
3) Erudition
Meaning: The quality of having or showing great knowledge or learning; scholarship.
Example: He was known for his wit, erudition, and teaching skills.
Synonyms: Learning, Scholarship
Antonyms: Ignorance
4) Rigour
Meaning: The quality of being extremely thorough and careful.
Example: His analysis is lacking in rigour.
Synonyms: Thoroughness, Precision
5) Grappling
Meaning: Engage in a close fight or struggle without weapons; wrestle.
Example: Passers-by grappled with the man after the knife attack.
Synonyms: Wrestle, Struggle
6) Implications
Meaning: The conclusion that can be drawn from something although it is not explicitly stated.
Example: The implication is that no one person at the bank is responsible.
Synonyms: Suggestion, Inference
Antonyms: Explicit statement
7) Inception
Meaning: The establishment or starting point of an institution or activity.
Example: She has been on the board since its inception two years ago.
Synonyms: Establishment, Institution
Antonyms: End
8) Whimsical
Meaning: Acting or behaving in a capricious manner.
Example: The whimsical arbitrariness of autocracy.
Synonyms: Volatile, Impulsive
9) Behest
Meaning: A person’s orders or command.
Example: They had assembled at his behest.
Synonyms: Instruction, Bidding
10) Invoked
Meaning: Cite or appeal to (someone or something) as an authority for an action or in support of an argument.
Example: The antiquated defence of insanity is rarely invoked in England.
Synonyms: Cite, Adduce
Antonyms: Waive
11) Forfeit
Meaning: Lose or be deprived of (property or a right or privilege) as a penalty for wrongdoing.
Example: Those unable to meet their taxes were liable to forfeit their estates.
12) Deems
Meaning: Regard or consider in a specified way.
Example: The event was deemed a great success.
Synonyms: Consider, Judge
13) Infringe
Meaning: Actively break the terms of (a law, agreement, etc.).
Example: Making an unauthorized copy would infringe copyright.
Synonyms: Contravene, Violate
Antonyms: Obey, Comply with
14) Remnants
Meaning: A part or quantity that is left after the greater part has been used, removed, or destroyed.
Example: The bogs are an endangered remnant of a primeval landscape
Synonyms: Remains, Remainder
15) Construal
Meaning: The way a person understands the world or a particular situation.
Example: A young child’s construal of a task may be different from an older child’s or an adult’s.
