The Freethought Party of India (FPI) and the AMOFOI celebrated August 2 as the “Government Servants’ Free Speech Day” here with party president Dr Bijayananda Kar in the chair.
48 years back, on August 2, the Orissa High Court while deciding a writ petition filed by FPI general secretary B Ramchandra, then a Lecturer in the Government
College, Bhawanipatana, made it clear that the Government servants can criticise the Government and its policies and the Government can derive benefit out of such criticisms.
The HC Bench headed by the then Chief Justice Gati Krushna Mishra ordered that “Rule 6(ii) and Rule 7(i) of the Orissa Govt Servants’ Conduct Rules of 1959 are ultra
vires of the Constitution of India.
It is a matter of shame that the Government of Odisha has not yet cared to remove these two obnoxious rules from the Statute Book, lamented Voltaire, while giving the introductory remarks about the importance of the celebration of “August 2”.
He further stated that no service association, not even the OGCTA (Odisha Government College Teachers’ Association), has hither to done anything to pressurize the State Government to implement the judgment of the HC that has been subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court. He paid rich tributes to the memories of Voltaire and JS Mill , the original exponents of freedom of speech and expression.
FPI president Dr Kar spoke on the theme of a seminar, entitled “Neither good governance nor social democracy is possible in the absence of freedom of speech and expression”. He read out vital portions of the Judgment after giving the background of the case.
Gracing the occasion as chief guest, former DGM CESU and president of Dharma Vihar Community Welfare Association (DVCWA) Er Purna Chandra Chyaupatnaik observed that life would be totally miserable in the absence of
free speech.
Among others, former Assistant General Manager, NABARD Aditya Bikram Rath, FPI VP Harish Chandra Kar, co-founder of AMOFOI Swapn Bijayini spoke.