Article 19 of the Constitution of India guarantees to every citizen six freedoms: speech and expression, peaceful assembly, association, movement, residence, and the freedom to practise a profession or carry on a trade or business. None of them is absolute. Each is subject to one of clauses (2) to (6), which allow the State to make laws imposing “reasonable restrictions” on specified grounds only; movement and residence share clause (5). A seventh freedom, the right to acquire, hold and dispose of property in Article 19(1)(f), was removed from the Constitution with effect from 20 June 1979, and property is now protected by Article 300A. This guide sets out the current text from the official Legislative Department edition, explains each freedom and its matching restriction clause, summarises the Supreme Court’s leading judgments from Romesh Thappar (1950) to 2025, and covers emergencies, remedies, a Hindi summary and common questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Article 19 at a glance<\/p>\n
Reviewed and updated by Century Law Firm, Delhi \u2013 October 2026. Statutory references are to the Acts as in force on that date.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Clause (1), as it stands in the official text, reads: “All citizens shall have the right\u2014 (a) to freedom of speech and expression; (b) to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) to form associations or unions or co-operative societies; (d) to move freely throughout the territory of India; (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; and (f) * * * (g) to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clause (2), which governs speech, reads: “Nothing in sub-clause (a) of clause (1) shall affect the operation of any existing law, or prevent the State from making any law, in so far as such law imposes reasonable restrictions on the exercise of the right conferred by the said sub-clause in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clauses (3) to (6) follow the same pattern for the other freedoms. Clause (3) allows reasonable restrictions on the right of assembly “in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order”. Clause (4) allows them on the right to form associations “in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India or public order or morality”. Clause (5) allows reasonable restrictions on the rights of movement and residence “either in the interests of the general public or for the protection of the interests of any Scheduled Tribe”. Clause (6) allows them on the right to a profession, occupation, trade or business “in the interests of the general public”, and adds that nothing in sub-clause (g) prevents laws relating to “the professional or technical qualifications necessary for practising any profession or carrying on any occupation, trade or business”, or to the carrying on by the State, or by a corporation owned or controlled by the State, of any trade, business, industry or service, “whether to the exclusion, complete or partial, of citizens or otherwise.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n The footnotes in the official edition record how the article reached this form. Clause (2) was substituted by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951, with retrospective effect, and the closing words of clause (6), on professional qualifications and State trading, were substituted by the same Amendment with effect from 18 June 1951. The words “the sovereignty and integrity of India” were inserted in clauses (2), (3) and (4) by the Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963, with effect from 5 October 1963. The Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 omitted sub-clause (f) and changed clause (5) from “sub-clauses (d), (e) and (f)” to “sub-clauses (d) and (e)”, both with effect from 20 June 1979. The words “or co-operative societies” in sub-clause (c) were inserted by the Constitution (Ninety-seventh Amendment) Act, 2011.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe text of Article 19<\/h2>\n\n\n\n