‘Organised harassment’: A Supreme Court judge on ‘obscenity’ charges against painter MF Husain

Free speech isn’t comfortable. It’s often inconvenient, sometimes hurtful and occasionally outrageous. But then the alternative would be allowing public figures to use their access to the courts as a tool to silence their critics. It’s better to err on the side of too much freedom than too little: The Constitution does not grant a right to suppress hurtful truths or, indeed, in most cases, evenhurtful lies about oneself. The only real remedy is a thicker skin.

This view of mine would soon be tested in a much better-known case in 2008, that of world-renowned Indian painter Maqbool Fida Husain. The MF Husain case came to me in circumstances where my predecessor had been, shall we say, reluctant to touch it.

The matter had already been adjourned 16 times! Nobody wanted to deal with it, as it was too controversial and politically charged. But I thought it was very interesting, and that it would not be right to step back from a case just because it was politically charged. I must admit that it is the kind of case that makes judicial work challenging and interesting. We do routine work 90% of the time. The real challenge is in taking up the...

Read more