ON February 10, 2025, the 125 year old Tamil Nadu based magazine Vikatan published a cartoon of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a chair with his hands and legs shackled. Beside him sat the United States President Donald Trump, his fingers pointing at the shackles, and a derisive smile donning his face. Very inexplicably, the access to that cartoon as also the Vikatan website was blocked allegedly by the Union government without citing any reason. Several political parties, including the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, the ruling party of Tamil Nadu, condemned the alleged blocking of the website and the cartoon, as constituting a violation of the freedom of press which flows from the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
Vikatan’s blocking contradicts natural justice principles, violates the law
The Union’s decision to render the website inaccessible without detailing any reasons goes against the very founding principles of natural justice. Its coercive action tramples not only the freedom of expression but also the citizen’s right to be informed of the content, and underlying message of the cartoon. This indicates the government has presumed Vikatan’s guilt, even before any adjudication by a court of law could be undertaken.
Recently, preceding the presentation of the Union Budget in the Parliament, the government published the Economic Survey 2024-2025 report. The report noted that in order to foster trust between the government and entrepreneurs, and enable economic growth and progress, the operating principle of regulations needed to shift from a ‘guilty until proven innocent’ norm, to an ‘innocent until proven guilty’ standing.
