The Supreme Court has ruled that additional restrictions on the right to free speech cannot be imposed on ministers, MPs and MLAs. The grounds to restrict this right are exhaustive under Article 19(2), a Constitution bench said by a 4:1 majority on Tuesday.
A bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer, BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and BV Nagarathna said that statements made by ministers cannot be attributed vicariously to the government even when the principle of collective responsibility is applied.
