Bal Gangadhar Tilak's Views On Free Speech And Sedition Continue To Be Relevant Now : Justice AS Oka

Justice Abhay Sreeniwas Oka, judge of the Supreme Court, on Saturday said during a speech that the views expressed by Bal Gangadhar Tilak on free speech and sedition continue to be relevant even now.Justice Oka also said that Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade and Gopal Krishna Gokhale propagated liberal thoughts and that their views on economy and education continue to be relevant even after 75 years of independence.Justice Oka was delivering a talk on the topic of the "Vision of Independent India: Ranade, Tilak and Gokhale" as part of a virtual event organised by legal news platform "The Leaflet". Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi also participated in the discussion. Apurva Vishwanath, Associate Editor of The Indian Express, was the moderator of the discussion. Highlighting that Ranade, Tilak and Gokhale were great gentlemen who devoted their lives to public service, Justice Oka said :"Justice Ranade and Gokhale propagated more than 100 years back the importance of liberal thinking and approach. Their views on economy and education continue to guide us, and what they propounded continues to be very relevant even after 75 years of independence. I feel that we need to revisit Ranade and Gokhale for guidance and course correction. Both Ranade and Gokhale believed that reforms in our society must get priority, and they strongly felt that nothing was wrong if the reforms were ushered through the British Government's laws. But, the views of Lokamanya were different on this issue".On sedition trial of TilakJustice Oka elaborated on the trial for sedition which Tilak had to face for writing critical editorials against the British Rule. Tilak, who defended himself in the trial, asserted the right to freedom of speech and expression and argued that merely voicing criticism against the government will not amount to the offence of sedition. Justice Oka read out the defence statement given by Tilak in his trial as follows :"… … … A writer can do something more not merely represent and express. I can say something is bad; it ought to be remedied. I have to write. I have a right to do that and as I find fault it is only natural some ill feeling is created. We are not all saints. So in disapprobation some ill-feeling is implied necessarily. Then that is the meaning of the explanation No.2.When I say this Government is going wrong, evidently I say something which the authorities may not like. That is not sedition. If that were so, there would be no progress at all and we shall have to be as content at the end of the 20th century as we are at present. True progress lies through agitation. And you are bound to consider what the defects are pointed out and discussed and the reforms which are proposed and look to the real intention of the man The real intention and not fictitious intention which is inferred from the legal dictum that every man intends the consequences of his acts. That is the criterion. If the intention is really to reform Government it is not sedition. A man must make an attempt to excite with a view to bring Government into contempt before he is seditious. What is the wording in the section? Sedition has never been really properly defined.I cannot conceive disapprobation without exciting some bad feeling in the minds of the hearer or the person against whom that comment is made. It is impossible to do it. That explanation is there to show that we allow such and such liberty to the Press; or it has no meaning. I request you to take it that it has a meaning for the Legislature was certainly not unsound in mind. The Section was not meaninglessly introduced. If it has a meaning, the only meaning it can have is that a certain amount of unpleasant feeling is allowed to be created by the law."Justice Oka explained that Lokmanya used the opportunity to address the Court to canvass his views about freedom of speech and expression, especially the freedom of the Press. He added that what Tilak stated during the trial continue to be relevant even now."Lokmanya was a firm believer in freedom of speech and expression. While facing both trials, he fought for the freedom of the Press and freedom of speech and expression. What he pleaded in the second trial in the year 1908 continues to be relevant 114 years after his trial", Justice Oka said.Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade: Justice Oka said that Justice Ranade being an activist, a social reformer, a great human being with the highest intellect, was most importantly, a liberal and his liberal ideas and views can be seen in his writings and speeches.He said that even with the constraints of the judicial office, his contribution to social and religious reforms was enormous. Justice Oka pointed out that Justice Ranade once said that, slowly but surely, the progress of liberal ideas will work its way into reforming our social customs. His motto for the reforms movement was "humanise, equalise and sympathise".Justice Oka spoke about how Justice Ranade while speaking at a Social...

Bal Gangadhar Tilak's Views On Free Speech And Sedition Continue To Be Relevant Now : Justice AS Oka

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