Question:
Assertion (A): Freedom of Speech is the most important civil liberty of people in a democratic polity.
Reason (R): State can regulate free speech in the interest of public order.
Assertion (A): Freedom of Speech is the most important civil liberty of people in a democratic polity.
Reason (R): State can regulate free speech in the interest of public order.
Reason (R): State can regulate free speech in the interest of public order.
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One statement says why the right matters, the other says how it can be curbed under Article 19(2). Ask whether a limit on a right can ever explain the right's importance.
Updated On: Jul 17, 2026
- Both A and R are individually true and R is the correct explanation of A
- Both A and R are individually true but R is not the correct explanation of A
- A is true but R is false
- A is false but R is true
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The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Understanding the Question:
The assertion praises freedom of speech as the most important civil liberty in a democracy. The reason says the State may regulate speech in the interest of public order. Test each, then ask whether the second accounts for the first.
Step 2: Testing the Assertion:
Freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a). Courts and writers have repeatedly called it the foundation of democratic government, because voters cannot choose, criticise, or hold power to account without it. The Supreme Court has described it as lying at the base of all democratic organisations. Treated as a general democratic proposition, the assertion is true.
Step 3: Testing the Reason:
Article 19(2) allows the State to impose reasonable restrictions on the freedom under Article 19(1)(a) on listed grounds. Public order is one of those grounds, added by the First Amendment in 1951. Others include the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, and incitement to an offence. So the reason is a correct statement of constitutional law and is true.
Step 4: Does R explain A?
No, and the direction of the two statements shows why. The assertion is about the importance of the right. The reason is about the limits placed on the right. A power to cut a right down cannot be the reason the right is important. If anything, the reason pulls the other way. The two are true statements about the same freedom that face in opposite directions.
Step 5: Why the other options fail:
Option (A) fails because a restriction cannot explain an importance.
Option (C) fails because Article 19(2) plainly permits restrictions on the ground of public order, so R is true.
Option (D) fails because the assertion is a widely accepted position about democratic government.
Final Answer:
Both statements are true but the reason does not explain the assertion, so the answer is option (B).
The assertion praises freedom of speech as the most important civil liberty in a democracy. The reason says the State may regulate speech in the interest of public order. Test each, then ask whether the second accounts for the first.
Step 2: Testing the Assertion:
Freedom of speech and expression is guaranteed by Article 19(1)(a). Courts and writers have repeatedly called it the foundation of democratic government, because voters cannot choose, criticise, or hold power to account without it. The Supreme Court has described it as lying at the base of all democratic organisations. Treated as a general democratic proposition, the assertion is true.
Step 3: Testing the Reason:
Article 19(2) allows the State to impose reasonable restrictions on the freedom under Article 19(1)(a) on listed grounds. Public order is one of those grounds, added by the First Amendment in 1951. Others include the sovereignty and integrity of India, security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, decency or morality, contempt of court, defamation, and incitement to an offence. So the reason is a correct statement of constitutional law and is true.
Step 4: Does R explain A?
No, and the direction of the two statements shows why. The assertion is about the importance of the right. The reason is about the limits placed on the right. A power to cut a right down cannot be the reason the right is important. If anything, the reason pulls the other way. The two are true statements about the same freedom that face in opposite directions.
Step 5: Why the other options fail:
Option (A) fails because a restriction cannot explain an importance.
Option (C) fails because Article 19(2) plainly permits restrictions on the ground of public order, so R is true.
Option (D) fails because the assertion is a widely accepted position about democratic government.
Final Answer:
Both statements are true but the reason does not explain the assertion, so the answer is option (B).
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