2025 INSC 1476
Page 1 of 37 CA NO…../2025@SLP(C) NO.17769/2025
REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION
CIVIL APPEAL NO………………………OF 2025
(ARISING OUT OF SLP (CIVIL) NO. 17769 OF 2025) MAHESH KUMAR AGARWAL ...APPELLANT(S)
VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ANR. ...RESPONDENT(S)
J U D G M E N T
VIKRAM NATH, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. Liberty, in our constitutional scheme, is not a gift of the
State but its first obligation. The freedom of a citizen to
move, to travel, to pursue livelihood and opportunity,
subject to law, is an essential part of the guarantee under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The State may,
where statute so provides, regulate or restrain that
freedom in the interests of justice, security or public order
but such restraint must be narrowly confined to what is
necessary, proportionate to the object sought to be
achieved, and clearly anchored in law. When procedural
safeguards are converted into rigid barriers, or temporary
disabilities are allowed to harden into indefinite
exclusions, the balance between the power of the State and
Page 2 of 37 CA NO…../2025@SLP(C) NO.17769/2025
the dignity of the individual is disturbed, and the promise
of the Constitution is put at risk.
3. The present appeal arises from the judgment and order
dated 04.04.2025 passed by the Division Bench of the High
Court at Calcutt...