Editor: I. Mallikarjuna Sharma Volume 11: 15-31 March 2015 No. 5-6

ISC-142 Shreya Singhal v. Union of India [IND-SC] (2015) 1 LAW
be one which has a proximate connection or
nexus with public order, but not one far-fetched,
hypothetical or problematical or too remote in
the chain of its relation with the public order….
There is no proximate or even foreseeable
connection between such instigation and the
public order sought to be protected under [the]
section. We cannot accept the argument of the
learned Advocate General that instigation of a
single individual not to pay tax or dues is a spark
which may in the long run ignite a revolutionary
movement destroying public order” (at p. 836).
Reasonable Restrictions:
23. This Court has laid down what “reasonable
restrictions” means in several cases. In Chintaman
Rao v. The State of Madhya Pradesh, [1950] S.C.R.
759, this Court said:
“The phrase "reasonable restriction" connotes
that the limitation imposed on a person in
enjoyment of the right should not be arbitrary or
of an excessive nature, beyond what is required
in the interests of the public. The word
"reasonable" implies intelligent care and
deliberation, that is, the choice of a course which
reason dictates. Legislation which arbitrarily or
excessively invades the right cannot be said to
contain the quality of reasonableness and unless
it strikes a proper balance between the freedom
guaranteed in article 19(1)(g) and the social control
permitted by clause (6) of article 19, it must be
held to be wanting in that quality.” (at page 763)
24. In State of Madras v. V.G. Row, [1952] S.C.R.
597, this Court said:
“This Court had occasion in Dr. Khare's case
(1950) S.C.R. 519 to define the scope of the
judicial review under clause (5) of Article19
where the phrase "imposing reasonable
restriction on the exercise of the right" also
occurs and four out of the five Judges
participating in the decision expressed the view
(the other Judge leaving the question open) that
both the substantive and the procedural aspects
of the impugned restrictive law should be
examined from the point of view of
reasonableness; that is to say, the Court should
consider not only factors such as the duration and
the extent of the restrictions, but also the
circumstances under which and the manner in
which their imposition has been authorised. It is
important in this context to bear in mind that the
test of reasonableness, whereever prescribed,
should be applied to each, individual statute
impugned and no abstract standard, or general
pattern of reasonableness can be laid down as applicable
to all cases. The nature of the right alleged to have been
infringed, the underlying purpose of the restriction
imposed, the extent and urgency of the evil sought to be
remedied thereby, the disproportion of the imposition,
the prevailing conditions at the time, should all enter
into the judicial verdict. In evaluating such elusive
factors and forming their own conception of
what is reasonable, in all the circumstances of a
given case, it is inevitable that the social
philosophy and the scale of values of the judges
participating in the decision should play an
important part, and the limit to their interference
with legislative judgment in such cases can only
be dictated by their sense of responsibility and
self-restraint and the sobering reflection that the
Constitution is meant not only for people of their
way of thinking but for all, and that the majority
of the elected representatives of the people have,
in authorising the imposition of the restrictions,
considered them to be reasonable.” (at pages 606-
607) (emphasis ours)
25. Similarly, in Mohd. Faruk v. State of Madhya
Pradesh & Ors., [1970] 1 S.C.R. 156, this Court
said:
“The Court must in considering the validity of
the impugned law imposing a prohibition on the
carrying on of a business or profession, attempt
an evaluation of its direct and immediate impact
upon the fundamental rights of the citizens
affected thereby and the larger public interest
sought to be ensured in the light of the object
sought to be achieved, the necessity to restrict
the citizen's freedom, the inherent pernicious
nature of the act prohibited or its capacity or
tendency to be harmful to the general public, the
possibility of achieving the object by imposing a
less drastic restraint, and in the absence of
exceptional situations such as the prevalence of a
state of emergency – national or local – or the
necessity to maintain essential supplies, or the
necessity to stop activities inherently dangerous,
the existence of a machinery to satisfy the
administrative authority that no case for
imposing the restriction is made out or that a less
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