Tata Press v MTNL (1995) | Commercial Speech Under Article 19(1)(a) Explained

Case 26 of 30 in Law Easy's Media Law series. Tata Press Ltd. v. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd., Supreme Court of India, decided 1995. FACTS Tata Press published Tata Press Yellow Pages, a buyer's guide made up of advertisements. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, the public telephone company, sued to stop it, arguing that under the Indian Telegraph Act only it could publish a telephone directory. WHAT THE COURT HELD In 1995, in a judgment by Justice Kuldip Singh, the Supreme Court held that commercial speech is part of freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1)(a), because the public has a right to receive information about goods and services. Commercial speech that is deceptive, unfair, misleading or untruthful can be regulated or prohibited. The Yellow Pages was a buyer's guide, not a telephone directory, so it could be published. EXAM POINT Compare with Hamdard Dawakhana (1959), which the Court said had been stated too broadly and concerned prohibited drugs. PREVIOUS CASE: Indibly Creative Pvt. Ltd. v. Government of West Bengal - https://youtu.be/n16YSSUYoUA NEXT CASE: Hamdard Dawakhana v. Union of India - https://youtu.be/mR4Nrakxajc FULL PLAYLIST (all 30 cases in order): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLY-t71WbMh6k COMPLETE LECTURE (all 30 cases, 1 hour 52 minutes): https://youtu.be/8AFvktrLPM4 Made for LL.B. students and for CLAT PG, UGC NET Law and judiciary exam preparation. Subscribe to Law Easy for the full law course. Notes: https://www.thelaweasy.com #MediaLaw #CommercialSpeech #LawEasy