The court upheld that freedom of expression can be restricted to maintain public order, especially if publications induce violence or hatred among communities, emphasizing the State's role in ensuring societal harmony.

1. The Writ Petition in W.P No.17615/2013 has been filed to quash the impugned notification No.146 dated 30.05.2013 published by the first respondent in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary, whereby the book "Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru" (Vernacular matter omitted.........Ed.) written by the petitioner, has been forfeited by invoking the powers under S.95, Cr.P.C., on the ground that the contents therein are abusive and in the nature of promoting enmity between different castes.

2. The Writ Petition in W.P.No.31237/2016 has been filed to quash the impugned notification No.182, dated 19.08.2015 published by the respondent Government in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary, whereby the book "Venthar Kulathin Iruppidam Ethu?" (Vernacular matter omitted.........Ed.) written by the petitioner, which is a continuation of the earlier book, the subject - matter of W.P. No.17615/2013, was ordered to be forfeited by invoking the powers under S.95, Cr.P.C.

3. Since the petitioner has authored both the books, both the writ petitions were clubbed and heard together, by consent of both the parties.

4. The brief facts of the cases, are as follows:
The petitioner, claiming to be hailing from Mallar Community, has penned both the books. The first book "Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaru" was penned by him, claiming that Mallars also known as 'pallars' are the descendants of the ancient Pandya kings and that, they are wrongly arrayed as "Dalits", though history would reveal that they belonged to the agricultural and ruling class, superior to other communities classified under the Schedule. Pitching for reclassification, the petitioner has in the process of tracing the identity of mallars with Pandyas, based on quotes in various books, also penned the fall of Pandya dynasty and the rise and domination of other communities in the societies.

5. The petitioner has also claimed that Kuravar, Idayar, Pallar, Fishermen, Maraver are the basic and original communities in Tamil Nadu and others now claiming to be the natives of this State, are aliens. When a permission was sought for release of the book, which is the subject - matter of W.P. No.17615 of 2013, the first respondent issued the impugned notification No.146, dated 30.05.2013 forfeiting the same, under S.95, Cr.P.C. on the ground that the contents are abusive and demeaning to other communities and therefore, would create a law and order problem. Aggrieved over the same, the petitioner has filed W.P. No. 17615 of 2013 pitching for his fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression under Art.19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India.

6. During the pendency of the first writ petition, another book, titled as "Venther Kulathin Iruppidam Ethu?" penned by the petitioner in continuation with his earlier book and in the same lines tracing the identity of "Venthers" with mallars, was forfeited by the Government vide the impugned notification No.182 dated 19.08.2015 for similar reasons. Challenging the same and claiming that his work is purely sociological and determined to remove the stigma on the caste by declassifying the pallar community from being categorised as 'Adi - dravidars' and 'Dalits', the petitioner has filed W.P.No.31237 of 2016 alleging that the impugned notifications are in violation of Art.14, Art.19(1)(a) and Art.21 of the Constitution of India.

7. The State, on the other hand, in the counter - affidavit, has justified the forfeiture of both the books. The Government order itself contains the extracts which strikingly are provocative and entice violence disrupting the