In Brief
A petitioner challenged the publication of a novel "Meesha" in Mathrubhumi weekly on the ground that a particular dialogue was derogatory to temple-going women and should be banned under Article 19(2). The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, holding that a writer's imagination must enjoy freedom and cannot be restricted merely because it offends some readers. The Court applied pragmatic realism in assessing the work as a whole, found the dialogue neither obscene nor defamatory, and emphasized that books cannot be banned unless they pose a clear and present danger to public order—not remote or conjectural danger. Freedom of creative expression is fundamental to democracy.
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