Overview
- In a separate opinion, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan held that it is constitutionally impermissible for state or non-state actors to vilify or denigrate any community through speeches, memes, cartoons or visual art.
- He said public figures holding high constitutional office have a heightened duty not to target groups on grounds of religion, caste, language or region.
- A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan closed the petition over the film title “Ghooskhor Pandat” after the filmmakers undertook to change it.
- Reaffirming free-speech protections, the opinion stressed that CBFC-certified films should not be blocked because of threats and that maintaining law and order is the State’s responsibility.
- Citing precedents on constitutional morality over popular morality and emphasizing fraternity as a foundational value, the opinion has been noted as relevant to ongoing debates over alleged hate speech by political leaders.