Summarize the following court judgment. etition No. 252 of 1956. Petition under Article 32 of the Constitution for the enforcement of fundamental rights. Veda Vyasa	 section K. Kapur and Ganpat Rai	 for the petitioner. G. C. Mathur and C. P. Lal	 for the respondent. April 5. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by DAS C.J. This is a petition filed under article 32 of the Constitution of India praying for a declaration that section 295A of the Indian Penal Code is ultra vires and unconstitutional and for a writ in the nature of certiorari quashing the petitioner 's conviction under that section and for ancillary reliefs. The material facts lie within a narrow compass. The petitioner is the editor	 printer and publisher of a monthly magazine called Gaurakshak. The magazine is devoted to cow protection. In July or August	 1954	 a Hindi Daily newspaper named 'Amrit Patrika ' of Allahabad printed and published an article or a cartoon about a donkey on which an agitation was started by the muslims of Uttar Pradesh. The editor and printer and publisher of 'Amrit Patrika ' were prosecuted by the State	 but they have been eventually acquitted by the High Court of Allahabad. In the meantime	 in its issue for the month of Kartik Samvat 2009	 corresponding to November	 1952	 an article was published in the petitioner 's magazine 'Gaurakshak. ' On December 12	 1952	 the State Government ordered the prosecution of the petitioner on the basis of the said article. Accordingly on June 8	 1953	acomplaint was filed in the court of the District Magistrate	 Kanpur	 111 862 by the Senior Superintendent of Police	 Kanpur	 against the petitioner for offences under sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code. The Magistrate by his order dated August 5	 1953	 charged the petitioner under sections 153A and 295A and committed the petitioner to the Sessions Court of Kanpur for trial. The petitioner pleaded not guilty. The learned Sessions Judge	 by his judgment dated November 16	 1953	 acquitted the petitioner of the charge under section 153 Abut convicted him under section 295A and sentenced him to 18 months rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 2	000 and	 in default of payment of the fine	 to further rigorous imprisonment of 4 months. The petitioner filed an appeal to the High Court at Allahabad. The learned Single Judge	 by his judgment dated October 25	 1956	 held that the article was published with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of muslims and that the petitioner was guilty under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code. The learned Judge	 however	 reduced the sentence of imprisonment to 12 months and the fine from Rs. 2	000 to Rs. 250 only. An application for certificate to appeal to this Court under articles 132 and 134 having been rejected by the High Court on October 30	 1956	 the petitioner moved this Court for special leave to appeal from the judgment of the Allahabad High Court dated October 25	 1956. The petitioner also on December 5	 1956	 presented the present petition under article 32 for the reliefs mentioned above. The petitioner also made an application in this Court along with the writ petition for stay of the sentence passed on him. On December 18	 1956	 both the stay application and the petition for special leave were dismissed by this Court. The petition under article 32 has now come up for hearing. Presumably the petitioner has surrendered and is undergoing the sentence of imprisonment. Learned counsel appearing in support of this petition urges that section 295A of the Indian Penal Code is ultra vires and void inasmuch as it interferes with the petitioner 's right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to him as a citizen of India by article 19(1)(a) of our Constitution. The contention is that this section 863 cannot be supported as a law imposing reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by article 19(1)(a) as provided in cl. (2) of the said Article. Learned counsel says that the interest of public order is the only thing in cl. (2) which may possibly be relied upon by the State as affording a justification for its claim for the validity of the impugned section. A law interfering with the freedom of speech and expression and imposing a punishment for its breach may	 says counsel	 be "in the interests of public order" only if the likelihood of public disorder is made an ingredient of the offence and the prevention of public disorder is a matter of proximate and not remote consideration. Learned counsel points out that insulting the religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens of India may not lead to public disorder in all cases although it may do so in some case. Therefore	 where a law purports	 as the impugned section does	 to authorise the imposition of restriction on the exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression in language wide enough to cover restrictions both within and without the limitation of constitutionally permissible legislative action affecting such right	 the court should not uphold it even in so far as it may be applied within the constitutionally permissible limits as it is not severable. So long as the possibility of its being applied for purposes not sanctioned by the Constitution cannot be ruled out it must	 according to learned counsel	 be held to be wholly unconstitutional and void. Reference has been made to the cases of Romesh Thappar vs The St ate of Madras(1) and Brij Bushan vs The State of Delhi (2). In Romesh Thappar 's case	 in exercise of powers conferred on him by section 9(1 A) of the Madras Maintenance of Public Order Act	 1949	 the Governor of Madras	 being satisfied that for the purpose of securing public safety and the maintenance of public order it war	. necessary so to do	 prohibited the entry into or the circulation	 sale or distribution in the State of Madras or any part thereof of the newspaper entitled 'Cross Roads '	 an English Weekly published at Bombay. (1) ; (2) ; 864 The impugned section section 9(1 A) was a law enacted for the purpose of securing the public safety and the maintenance of public order. 'Public order ' was said to be an expression of wide connotation and to signify that state of tranquillity which prevailed among the members of a political society as a result of the internal regulation enforced by the Government which they had established. 'Public safety ' used in that section was taken as part of the wider concept of 'public order '. Clause (2) of article 19	 as it stood then	 protected a law relating	 inter alia	 to a matter which undermined the security of or tended to overthrow the State. Some breach of public safety or public order may conceivably undermine the security of or tend to overthrow the State	 but equally conceivably many breaches of public safety or public order may not have that tendency. Therefore	 a law which imposes restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression for preventing a breach of public safety or public order which may not undermine the security of the State or tend to overthrow the State cannot claim the protection of cl. (2) of article 19. Section 9(1 A) was challenged as it embraced both species of activities referred to above and as the section was not severable	 the whole section was held to be bad. In Brij Bushan 's case (supra) the validity of section 7(1)(c) of the East Punjab Public Safety Act	 1949	 as extended to the Province of Delhi	 came. up for consideration. That section provided that "the Provincial Government or any authority authorised by it in this behalf	 if satisfied that such action is necessary for preventing or combating any activity prejudicial to the public safety or the maintenance of public order	 may	 by order in writing addressed to the printer	 publisher or editor	 require that any matter relating to a particular subject or class of subjects shall before publication be submitted for scrutiny". It was held by this Court (Fazl Ali J. dissenting) that inasmuch as the section authorised the imposition of restrictions on the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by article 19(1)(a) for the purposes of preventing activities prejudicial to 865 public safety and maintenance of public order	 it was not a law solely relating to a matter which undermined the security of or tended to overthrow the State within the meaning Of Cl. (2) of article 19 as it then stood. The principles laid down in Romesh Thappar 's case were applied to this case and the law was held to be void. The case of Chintaman Rao vs The State of Madhya Pradesh (1) has also been relied upon in support of the contention that where the language employed in the Statute is wide enough to cover restrictions on a fundamental right both within and without the limits of constitutionally permissible legislative action affecting the right and the possibility of its being applied for purposes not sanctioned by the Constitution cannot be ruled out	 the law must be held to be wholly void. After this Court decided the cases of Romesh Thappar (supra) and Brij Bushan (supra)	 cl. (2) of article 19 of the Constitution was amended. Clause (2)	 as amended	 protects a law in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by sub cl. (a) of cl. (1) of article 19 "in the interests of the security of the State	 friendly relations with foreign States	 public order	 decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court	 defamation or incitement to an offence." The question for our consideration is whether the impugned section can be properly said to be a law imposing reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression in the interests of public order. It will be noticed that the language employed in the amended clause is "in the interests of" and not "for the maintenance of". As one of us pointed out in Debi Soron vs The State of Bihar(2)	 the expression "in the interests of" makes the ambit of the protection very wide. A law may not have been designed to directly maintain public order and yet it may have been enacted in the interests of public order. It is pointed out that section 295A has been included in chapter XV of the Indian Penal Code which deals with offences relating to religion and not in chapter VIII (1) ; (2) A.I.R. (1954) Patna 254. 866 which deals with offences against the public tranquillity and from this circumstance it is faintly sought to be urged	 therefore	 that offences relating to religion have no bearing on the maintenance of public order	 or tranquillity and	 consequently	 a law creating an offence relating to religion and imposing restrictions on the right to freedom of speech and expression cannot claim the protection of el. (2) of article 19. A reference to articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution	 which guarantee the right to freedom of religion	 will show that the argument is utterly untenable. The right to freedom of religion assured by those Articles is expressly made subject to public order	 morality and health. Therefore	 it cannot be predicated that freedom of religion can have no bearing whatever on the maintenance of public order or that a law creating an offence relating to religion cannot under any circumstances be said to have been enacted in the interests of public order. These two Articles in terms contemplate that restrictions may be imposed on the rights guaranteed by them in the interests of public order. Learned counsel then shifted his ground and formulated his objection in a slightly different way. Insults to the religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens of India may	 says learned counsel	 lead to public disorders in some cases	 but in many cases they may not do so and		 therefore	 a law which imposes restrictions on the citizens ' freedom of speech and expression by simply making insult to religion an offence will cover both varieties of insults	 i.e.	 those which may lead to public disorders as well as.those which may not. The law in so far as it covers the first variety may be said to have been enacted in the interests of public order within the meaning of el. (2) of article 19	 but in so far as it covers the remaining variety will not fall within that clause. The argument then concludes that so long as the possibility of the law being applied for purposes not sanctioned by the Constitution cannot be ruled out	 the entire law should be held to be unconstitutional and void. We are unable	 in view of the language used in the impugned section	 867 to accede to this argument. In the first place el. (2) of article 19 protects a law imposing reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and expression "in the interests of" public order	 which is much wider than "for maintenance of" public order. If	 therefore	 certain activities have a tendency to cause public disorder	 a law penalising such activities as an offence cannot but be held to be a law imposing reasonable restriction "in the interests of public order" although in some cases those activities may not actually lead to a breach of public order. In the next place section 295A does not penalise any and every act of insult to or attempt to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens but it penalises only those acts of insults to or those varieties of attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of a class of citizens	 which are perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of that class. Insults to religion offered unwittingly or carelessly or without any deli. berate or malicious intention to outrage the religious feelings of that class do not come within the section. It only Punishes the aggravated form of insult to religion when it is perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of that class. The calculated tendency of this aggravated form of insult is clearly to disrupt the public order and the section	 which penalises such activities	 is well within the protection of cl. (2) of article 19 as being a law imposing reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by article 19(1)(a). Having regard to the ingredients of the offence created by the impugned section	 there cannot	 in our opinion	 be any possibility of this law being applied for purposes not sanctioned by the Constitution. In other words	 the language employed in the section is not wide enough to cover restrictions both within and without the limits of constitutionally permissible legislative action affecting the fundamental right guaranteed by article 19(1)(s) and consequently	 the question of severability does not 868 arise and the decisions relied upon by learned counsel for the petitioner have no application to this case. For the reasons stated above	 the impugned section falls well within the protection of el. (2) of article 19 and this application must	 therefore	 be dismissed. Application dismissed.

This was a petition challenging the constitutional validity of section 295A of the Indian Penal Code and for quashing the petitioner 's conviction thereunder for publishing an article in a monthly magazine of which he was the printer	 publisher and the editor. It was contended on his behalf that the impugned section infringed his fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression conferred by article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and was not a law imposing reasonable restrictions on the right in the interests of public order under cl. (2) of article 19	 which alone could have afforded a justification for it. Held	 that section 295A of the Indian Penal Code was well within the protection of Cl. (2) of article 19 of the Constitution and its validity was beyond question. The expression "in the interests of" occurring in the amended Cl. (2) of article 19 had the effect of making the protection afforded by that clause very wide and a law not directly designed to maintain public order would well be within its protection if such activities as it penalised had a tendency to cause public disorder. Debi Soron vs The State of Bihar	 A.I.R. (1954) Pat. 254	 referred to. It was absurd to suggest that insult to religion as an offence could have no bearing on public order so as to attract cl. (2) Of article 19 in view of the provisions of articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution which	 while guaranteeing freedom of religion	 expressly made it subject to public order. 861 Nor	 having regard to the language and ingredients of section 295A of the Indian Penal Code	 could it be contended that the restrictions imposed by it could be used for purposes other than those falling within the limits of the Constitution. Romesh Thappar vs The State of Madras	 ; ; Brij Bushan vs The State of Delhi	 ; and Chintaman Rao vs The State of Madhya Pradesh	 (1950) S.C.R. 759	 held inapplicable.