AIB Roast: Is it protected under
Freedom of Speech & Expression?
by Anjali Rawat [Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University, Lucknow]
The society is filled with “he said, she said” talks. Out if these, some are true and some are just farfetched
truth or exaggerated versions of the truth, which might result in deterioration of an individual’s reputation
leading to his boycott or some other kind of hurtful acts by the society. This is called defamation. A more
technical definition can be found under Section 499 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 which clearly means that
defaming someone is an offence under the penal law and thus the person found guilty of it will be either
imprisoned or had to pay fine or both, according to Section 500 of the same code. But penal law is not the
only remedy for the victim. The victim may file a suit under civil law, can ask for damages and return to his
former self with a clean name. So which one to choose? I would go for civil suit. Why would I do so? Of
course I’ll be frustrated with the person responsible for ruining my reputation and causing me so many
problems, so why? Because I think that many times a person doesn’t intend to defame others, the
defamatory statement might be his own opinion and Article 19 of Indian Constitution gives us the freedom
of speech and expression.
I can understand that many times the act of defamation may lead to some grave damage which might be
irretrievable but on the stake of a fundamental right, giving legality to such provisions is wrong and against
constitutional morality. This is not a mere assertion. Criminal defamation in each and every way is against
Article 19 and we need to do away with it. Its effect may not be direct however, is still present. For
exampleLet’s talk about the recent AIB Roast controversy. Of course it’s not related to defamation but it’s indeed
related to freedom of speech and expression. When AIB crew and the Bollywood stars did this act many, as
per their morality criticized them, and AIB said that they just practiced their right under Article 19, which is
correct. Then, Amir Khan expressed his intolerance towards this act and people for not being open-minded
heavily criticized him. Although I am not sure but I think that this reaction by people against Amir Khan
affected other stars and thus Kareena Kapoor and Shahrukh Khan in a very diplomatic way stayed away
from taking any stand regarding this matter. Did you see what happened? When Amir Khan took his
stand, he exercised his freedom of speech and expression and was greatly criticized. This
criticism in a way prevented others from expressing their own views and thus the freedom of
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