Over the ever-widening river of discord between India’s Right and Left, a slender bridge of consensus appears sometimes, and then disappears. A few intellectually prominent voices from both sides propose that freedom of speech should be absolute and be applied universally.

“Nobody has the right to not be offended," Salman Rushdie, the master in the business of offending (intentionally or not), once famously said.

In the tide of petitions — filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India challenging criminal defamation under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 199(1) to 199(4) of the Indian Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — ideologically wildly diverse personalities have found themselves stranded on the same side. Subramanian Swamy, Rahul Gandhi, and Arvind Kejriwal, politicians who have faced criminal defamation, have all contested the constitutionality of defamation. It inhibited their right to freedom of expression, they have argued.

But the laws stand. And perhaps for the best.

The recent episode involving standup comedian-cum-political activist

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