“10th August, 2019: Constitutional Law Society conducted third Academic guest lecture by Mr J Sai Deepak, Advocate, Supreme Court of India.”
The Constitutional Society of National Law University Odisha, under the aegis of Hon’ble Vice Chancellor Prof. (Dr) Shri Krishna Deva Rao and the Registrar (I/C) Prof. (Dr) Yogesh Pratap Singh,successfully organized 3rd CLS Academic Guest Lecture to be given by Advocate J. Sai Deepak (Supreme Court of India) on the topic ‘Free Speech and Expression: Blasphemy and Secular Criticism‘.
Right to Free Speech, a burning issue in light of the recent events, particularly the ongoing Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute was very well examined and critiqued by the esteemed guest and this idea even attracted a good strength of students who were very interested in the given topic.
The lecture started with the introduction of the relevance of Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code with the issue of Free Speech and Expression by Mr. J. Sai Deepak. Section 295-A of the Indian Penal Code talks about the deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class. Mr. J. Sai Deepak did a thorough critical analysis of this Section and tried to explain the value of truth that should be accompanied by the Right to Free Speech and Expression. He even reasoned the value of truth through the motto of the Supreme Court of India – ‘Satyamev Jayate’, holding truth to be of the paramount importance for the administration of justice. He then took the related sections of 153A, 95 and 96 of the Indian Penal Code and analysed their existence keeping in mind the ideas of Free Speech and Expression and emphasized upon the need for consistency and reasoning to be applied in disputes pertaining to the prevailing issue. Then, he gave a few historical examples of expressing dissent and how they would be unfitting given the existing laws now.
The floor was then opened for questions which were very relevant to the possible limitations if there is an absolute right given to Free Speech, the need for better communication among human beings so that the disputes are prevented and there is no need to resolve them in the first place. There was an interesting relation mentioned by one of the students between sedition and blasphemy which was very meticulously answered by Mr. J. Sai Deepak.
The charisma and eloquence of Mr. J. Sai Deepak was widely applauded by the audience. In addition to that, the active listening of the National Law University Odisha fraternity made this lecture a good platform for the faculty and students to understand the issue of Free Speech.Towards the conclusion of the lecture, the faculty advisor of Constitutional Law Society, Mr. Ashit Kumar Srivastava delivered the vote of thanks and the members of the Society felicitated Mr. J Sai Deepak.
