The Right to Silence in Freedom of Speech and Expression: An Analytical Study

Abstract

Staying silent is also an art that sometimes provides great opportunities to a person and sometimes deprives them of opportunities. Sometimes, due to the silence of a person, he also escapes from criminal activities. Sometimes by being silent, a person also introduces his cowardice. If we see Section 17 of the Indian Contract Law, 1872, then where there is a right to speak and a person does not speak, then silence is also tantamount to cheating. If provisions have been made in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India regarding the 'right to speech' and 'right to remain silent is also included in the 'right to speak' by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. If we talk about ancient times, then in the era of king maharajas, the common person did not even have the right to speak, at that time the order of king maharajas was paramount. But since the Indian Constitution has been implemented in India, since then a clean democracy has been established in India. These rights were also given to criminals in India, whose example is seen in Article 20(3) of the Constitution of India, in which criminals have been protected from giving evidence against themselves. Under which criminals also have the right to refuse to answer questions asked by law enforcement officers or court officials and lawyers. This right is prevalent not only in our country but also in other countries. Through this research paper, a critical study is to be done on whether the right to silence is also included in the freedom of speech and expression.