Governor P. Sathasivam has said the Constitution gives full freedom to everyone to express their views but it should not offend the sentiments or beliefs of others.
In an interview to The Hindu at Raj Bhavan here on Friday, the former Chief Justice of India made this observation when asked whether writers such as Tamil novelist Perumal Murugan were not entitled to the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Constitution.
Everyone has a right to make a statement, the right to criticise certain things etc. Only restriction is it should not offend the feelings of others,” he said.
Murugan had decided to quit writing following protests from pro-Hindu caste outfits against his novel Madhorubhagan .
On whether fringe groups are defining this thin line between the right to expression and its non-absoluteness, Mr. Sathasivam pointed out that the writer knew the feelings of the people, or the community, or [their] expectations.
“He is the best person to decide. See, if he honourably writes according to his own conscience, these views are acceptable or correct.”
Asked about his opinion as a constitutional expert on the political executive resorting to frequent ordinances, Mr. Sathasivam said sometimes the elected government may need an ordinance because of some urgency and absence of the Assembly session etc.
“As far as I know, when anything is to be promulgated through an ordinance, the government must inform the authority, either the Governor or the President, the reason for bringing the ordinance. They have to explain the urgency for the ordinance,” he said.
Mr. Sathasivam said there was nothing wrong in issuing an ordinance, if the Governor or the authority concerned was satisfied that the Assembly was not going to be convened in a short duration.
“But it depends upon the materials being placed by the government [before the authority concerned],” he said.
