Court caseAIR 1950 SC 124

Romesh Thappar published the English weekly 'Cross Roads' from Bombay. The Madras Government, under section 9(1-A) of the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act 1949, prohibited its entry into and circulation in the State 'for the purpose of securing the public safety and the maintenance of public order'. Thappar moved the Supreme Court directly under Article 32.

Patanjali Sastri J held that freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of propagation of ideas, which is secured by freedom of circulation; 'liberty of circulation is as essential to that freedom as the liberty of publication'. 'Public order' and 'public safety' are much wider than 'security of the State', which refers to serious and aggravated forms of public disorder such as rebellion or waging war. Since section 9(1-A) authorised restrictions for purposes beyond those in Article 19(2), and the valid and invalid purposes could not be severed, the provision was void. On the preliminary objection, the Court held that under Article 32 it is the protector and guarantor of fundamental rights and cannot refuse to entertain a petition merely because the High Court could be approached. Fazl Ali J dissented.