Discuss different aspects of this right entailed in the Constitution Specially freedom of speech.

Introduction

Speech is God’s gift to mankind. Through speech a human being conveys his thoughts, sentiments and feeling to others. Freedom of speech and expression is thus a natural right, which a human being acquires on birth. It is, therefore, a basic right. “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek and receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” proclaims the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights (1948).

In 1972, the constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was formally endorsed. In this new constitution, the right of every citizen of freedom of speech and expression, and freedom of the press was guaranteed. In 1973, The Printing Presses and Publication (Declaration and Registration) Act was introduced. In 2001, the Dramatic Performance Act of 1876 was repealed and the copyright ordinance of 1962 was revised and became law in 2000.

 Meaning And Scope

Freedom of Speech and expression means the right to express one’s own convictions and opinions freely by words of mouth, writing, printing, pictures or any other mode. It thus includes the expression of one’s idea through any communicable medium or visible representation, such as gesture, signs, and the like. This expression connotes also publication and thus the freedom of press is included in this category. Free propagation of ideas is the necessary objective and this may be done on the platform or through the press. This propagation of ideas is secured by freedom of circulation. Liberty of circulation is essential to that freedom as the liberty of publication. Indeed, without circulation the publication would be of little value. The freedom of speech and expression includes liberty to propagate not one’s views only. It also includes the right to propagate or publish the views of other people; otherwise this freedom would not include the freedom of press. [1]

Freedom of expression has four broad special purposes to serve:
1) It helps an individual to attain self-fulfillment.
2) It assists in the discovery of truth.
3) It strengthens the capacity of an individual in participating in decision-making.
4) It provides a mechanism by which it would be possible to establish a reasonable balance between stability and social change.
5) All members of society would be able to form their own beliefs and communicate them freely to others.

In sum, the fundamental principle involved here is the people’s right to know. Freedom of speech and expression should, therefore, receive generous support from all those who believe in the participation of people in the administration. It is on account of this special interest which society has in the freedom of speech and expression that the approach of the Government should be more cautious while levying taxes on matters of concerning newspaper industry than while levying taxes on other matters.[2]

Explaining the scope of freedom of speech and expression Supreme Court has said that the words “freedom of speech and expression” must be broadly constructed to include the freedom to circulate one’s views by words of mouth or in writing or through audiovisual instrumentalities. It therefore includes the right to propagate one’s views through the print media or through any other communication channel e.g. the radio and the television. Every citizen of this country therefore has the right to air his or their views through the printing and or the electronic media subject of course to permissible restrictions imposed

Freedom to air one’s view is the lifeline of any democratic institution and any attempt to stifle, suffocate or gag this right would sound a death knell to democracy and would help usher in autocracy or dictatorship. The modern communication mediums advance public interest by informing the public of the events and development that have taken place and thereby educating the voters, a role considered significant for the vibrant functioning of a democracy. Therefore, in any setup more so in a democratic setup like ours, dissemination of news and views for popular consumption is a must and any attempt to deny the same must be frowned upon.

The various communication channels are great purveyors of news and views and make considerable impact on the minds of readers and viewers and our known to mould public opinion on vitals issues of national importance. The freedom of speech and expression includes freedom of circulation and propagation of ideas and therefore the right extends to the citizen to use the media to answer the criticism leveled against the views propagated by him. Every free citizen has undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases. This freedom must, however, be exercised with circumspection and care must be taken not to trench on the rights of other citizens or to jeopardize public interest.

Constitution

Freedom of the press is a fundamental right of all citizens as guaranteed in the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. Article 39 of the Constitution provides provision for press freedoms:

39 (1) Freedom of thought and conscience is guaranteed.

     (2) Subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of the society of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence-

(a) The right of every citizen to freedom of speech and expression; and

(b) Freedom of the press is guaranteed.[3]

 Article 39 clearly states that freedom of thought and conscience is unlimited, but other freedoms such as speech and expression and freedom of the press are not without restrictions. The restrictions referred to in Article 39 assume action only by law. Without legislative authority, the executive cannot place any restriction or limitations on these freedoms. To impose a restriction, the legislature must make a law only for that purpose. While a citizen may exercise such rights in normal situations, extenuating circumstances may create compelling reasons to depart from the normal functions of the state.

 While Article 39 addresses freedom of the press, Article 43 provides protection of privacy to the citizen. Every citizen shall have the right, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed

by law in the interests of the security of the State, public order, public morality or public health-

(a) to be secured in his home against entry, search and seizure; and

(b) to the privacy of his correspondence and other means of communication. As interpreted, this provision limits the right of the press to invade private homes to obtain confidential information, interfere in a citizen’s secrets, or record private political discussions.

 Freedom of profession or occupation 41 (1) Subject to law, public order and morality- 41 (1a) every citizen has the right to profess, practice or propagate any religion; 41 (1b) every religious community or denomination has the right to establish, maintain and manage its religious institutions. 00000 000000000

 Freedom of religion 41 (2) No person attending any educational institution shall be required to receive religious instruction, or to take part in or to attend any religious ceremony or worship, if that instruction, ceremony or worship relates to a religion other than his own.[4]

New Dimensions Of Freedom Of Speech And Expression

Government has no monopoly on electronic media: The Ministry of Information issued licenses to many electronic media enterprises: Channel Eye (Channel-I) and Asian Television Network (ATN) for satellite broadcasting and Ekushe TV (ETV). Use of satellite dishes are also permitted in the country. ‘Radio Metrowave’, a private radio channel has operated since 1999 with the permission of Bangladesh Betar and National Broadcasting Authority.

Newspapers: Approximately 1566 newspapers and periodicals are published from Bangladesh in Bengali and English. The majority of newspapers and periodicals are published in Bengali. Since the 1990’s, the number of newspapers increased rapidly.

Commercial Advertisements: The court held that commercial speech (advertisement) is a part of the freedom of speech and expression. The court however made it clear that the government could regulate the commercial advertisements, which are deceptive, unfair, misleading and untruthful.

Telephone Tapping: Invasion on right to privacy: Right to privacy is still in a nascent stage in Bangladesh. It is still swimming in a grey area of constitutional protection. The constitution in several places, though not in unequivocal terms and not covering all aspects of privacy, has addressed the issue. ‘Worth of human dignity’ in Article 11 and privacy of home and correspondence’ in Article 43 are two examples as such. However, there is no reason why the Bangladesh experience will be different from the Indian Supreme Court interpretation given in Telephone Tapping Case. True, the issue of privacy has not come before the Bangladesh apex court in a serious manner until recent time. Bangladesh Parliament had passed ‘The Information & Communication Technology Act 2006’ aimed at enhancing the use of ICT in all spheres of activity. The objective of the law is to augment suitable use of information technology in overall social system, including administration, business and financial transactions, apart from science and research. The Act also touches the issue of privacy in section 78 and 79, which are a corresponding to section 72 of Indian Information Technology Act, 2000. This is a good provision in protection of privacy rights in the context of Bangladesh. But the advancement of technology has belied the promise of the provisions.[5]

Right to Information: The right to know, ‘receive and impart information has been recognized within the right to freedom of speech and expression. A citizen has a fundamental right to use the best means of imparting and receiving information and as such to have an access to telecasting for the purpose. One can conclude that ‘right to information is nothing but one small limb of right of speech and expression.

Conclusion

From this article it can be easily concluded that right to freedom of speech and expression is one of the most important fundamental right. It includes circulating one’s views by words or in writing or through audiovisual instrumentalities, through advertisements and through any other communication channel. It also comprises of right to information, freedom of press etc. Thus this fundamental right has a vast scope.

There are no certain general rules or norms that can be applied to all situations in case of privacy. It makes the world more complex and this reality should be accepted by all. Thus it is the duty of the respective government to take care of these issues and deal with the situations of the individuals separately rather than setting up a general rule for the mass population.

It can also be comprehended that public order holds a lot of significance as a ground of restriction on this fundamental right. But there should be reasonable and proper nexus or relationship between the restriction and achievement of public order. The words ‘in the interest of public order’ include not only utterances as are directly intended to lead to disorder but also those that have the tendency to lead to disorder.

Bibliography

1. Bangladesh Human Rights Network, human rights in constitution [online]. Available at: http://www.banglarights.net/HTML/constitution-3.htm

1. 2.    Billah Masum, S. M. Right to privacy: How far protected? [online]. Available at: http://www.thedailystar.net/law/2009/10/05/monitor.htm

1. 3.    Internews, Regions Bangladesh [online]. Available at:  www.internews.org/regions/mena/amr/bangladesh.pdf [Accessed: 15th October 2011]

1. Singhi, S. Freedom of Speech and Expression [online]. National Law University. Available at: http://www.goforthelaw.com/articles/fromlawstu/article16.htm