Romesh Thappar v. State of Madras (1950) is a landmark constitutional judgment delivered by the Supreme Court of India on May 26, 1950, just months after the Constitution's commencement. The case originated when the Government of Madras banned the entry and circulation of the English weekly journal Cross Roads, edited and published by Romesh Thappar, under Section 9(1-A) of the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act, 1949. Thappar challenged the ban directly before the Supreme Court under Article 32, arguing it violated his fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
The Supreme Court, in a 4:1 majority, held that the ban was unconstitutional and void. The ratio decidendi was that freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a) includes the freedom of circulation, and a restriction on this right can only be sustained if it falls strictly within the grounds mentioned in Article 19(2). At that time, the original Article 19(2) allowed restrictions only on grounds like the security of the State, defamation, or contempt of court, but did not include "public order". Since the Madras Act was based on "public safety or the maintenance of public order," and the latter was not a permissible ground, the law was struck down under Article 13(1) for being inconsistent with a fundamental right.
This judgment directly connects to the First Constitutional Amendment Act, 1951. The ruling created a difficulty for the government by limiting its power to maintain public order. Consequently, the First Amendment was enacted to change the constitutional landscape by adding "public order," "friendly relations with foreign states," and "incitement to an offence" as new grounds for imposing reasonable restrictions under Article 19(2). Thus, while the principle that freedom of circulation is part of free speech remains, the scope of permissible restrictions on that freedom was significantly expanded by the 1951 amendment.