Should Sedition Law Be Scrapped?

                                            Now a days the term ‘sedition’ is used in a very frequent manner. This term was coined by Thomas Babington Macaulay. It was enacted by britishers to suppress Indian dissent, and it will not be wrong to say that this colonial law shed tears for abolishment. Under section 124A Of Indian Penal Code,1860, the section says that

 “Whoever, word, either spoken or written, or, by signs, or attempts to bring into hatred or otherwise , or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.” 

"Section 124-A under, which I am happily charged , is perhaps the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen ,"said Mahatma Gandhi, and he couldn't have been more correct.

It is the K.M. munshi that he secured the removal of this section from the constitution.it is supreme court who brought back after 14 years, ignoring all the constituent assembly debates hard labour of K.M.munshi ,but with a caution that it must be used in very serious cases in Kedar Nath Singh case.1

The irony is that now it has been a decade since Britain scrapped this docranial  law. These days Sedition law is being misused for some people propaganda.

 Recently, In Bengaluru a girl name Amulya Leon was charged under sedition for writing a Facebook post, which says ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ along with other countries name’s Zindabad. Saying ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ does not in any way calls for violent protest or overthrowing the lawfully established government. But not only she was charged but her home was vandalized by some so called nationalists. "Neither the sedition law, much less any other criminal law, would apply by saying 'Pakistan Zindabad' since India was neither at war with Pakistan nor it had be declared a enemy country". criticizing the charges against Amulya retired justice Reddy adds,"this is totally unacceptable. liberal constitutional democracy is in peril. The time has come for judiciary to step in and counter this trend."  

There is a uncounted list of false sedition charges against innocents. According to NCRB data 194 cases of sedition have been filed since CAA was passed on 11th December,2019. Laws are not for intimidating people and stopping them from expressing their perspective.

Supreme court landmark cases in relation to sedition

The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that this law must be used only in very  serious circumstances. In 1995,in Balwant Singh and anr v. state of Punjab 2 court held that only raising slogans once or twice is not sedition. Supreme Court in its interpretation of S/124A said that it has to be against the state ,not the government .One can freely criticize the government . Even several law commissions have raised the question about need to have this law in present form. In the world’s largest democracy there is no need of such law.  

Kedar Nath Singh case (1962), this was the landmark case  the first case tried in independent India. In this the very provision was challenged and the supreme court clearly differentiated between criticism and disloyalty. The court highly emphasized that even a harsh, strignent criticism, either spoken or written is outside the scope of sedition.

 In Shreya Singhal vs. Union of India,(2015) 3 section 66A of information technology act ,2000 was struck down ,as it was said to be in violation of article 19(1) of the constitution of India that gives right to freedom of speech and expression. In this case two girls were charged for sedition ,one for posting a comment which was very harsh of the shutdown of the city due to the death of a political leader and other for 'liking' the comment. Court said that ,person could be tried for their speech ,however very harsh or offence, unless it had provoked violence or disturbed public order. the supreme court made distinction between 'advocacy' and 'incitement' and said only latter is punishable. 

In Aseem Trivedi vs. State of Maharashta (2012),4 a political cartoonist was arrested for the sedition in 2010,for the sketch showing parliament as a commode and the national emblem in bad light having replaced the lions with rabid wolves during anti corruption protest.in this Bombay HC said ,'a citizen has right to say or write  anything critical  about government ,or its measures ,as long as it does not incite violence or intends to disturb public order'. Court added that 'the cartoon lacked wit but seditious and directed police too "scrupulously implement" the guidelines'. The court always reiterated that criticism never attracts sedition but those in power always misused it for their own purpose.

 There is one more very thought provoking fact that while the sedition cases are increasing continuously, the conviction rate is very low that is just 4%(approx.) normally bail is the norm and jail is the exception but sedition is a non bailable offence and in most of the cases police is unable to prove his cases and this again proves the misuse of the rule and mere  weapon of harassment .it is very difficult to prevent its misuse until it in the rule book.

 Once hon’ble Justice Deepak Gupta said that ,”in a powerful indictment of the manner in which freedom of speech is being attacked across the country, an attempt to stifle criticism will turn India into “a political sate”. several former supreme court judges talked about law being misused. Former SC judge justice M B Lokur said , “The government is using sedition law with iron hand to curb free speech in an overreaction to peoples opinion”. He further said, “Authorities are weaponizing sedition laws”.

This law has become a easiest weapon and is being used to exaggerate a normal political dissent into a anti national and antisocial act. If the country like India is not open to the criticism there will not be any difference between independence and colonial eras.

References                                                                                                                            1 https://indiankanoon.org/doc/111867

2 https://indiankanoon.org/doc/123425906

3 lawtimesjournal.in/shreya-singhal-vs-union-of-india
4 https://www.sabrangindia.in/judgements/bombay-high-court-judgement...

This article is penned by Deepti Yadav, a student (Ballb 1st year).  

 

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Men: The Forgotten Gender?

You know around 3 to 4 years back, I started to come across the ideas of feminism, equality, women's right and empowerment etc. Then I understood that what women suffer in their day to day life, how they are humiliated, how they are judged on the basis their dress, their way of talking, how they are tortured for dowry and number of things. I started feeling very bad that how because of some judgemental people women aren't allowed to do what they want to do, what they want to wear, where they want to go and with whom they want to go. It transformed me into a kind of girl who would always talk about feminism, equality and women's rights. I would always think that it is so cool to be a boy, no one judges you anyhow, be it dress, way of talking, time of coming back home, dowry and their lifestyle. A boy's image has always been in my mind as a tension free and care free human being, who lives his life as he wishes to. Little did I know, that they don't suffer like us but...
Read more

Rape Culture: A Social Stigma

Rape culture is a way of life in which sexual violence is accepted as normal and victims are held responsible for their own assaults. It's about cultural norms and institutions that protect rapists, promote impunity, blame victims, and demand that women make excessive sacrifices to avoid sexual assault. Because it places the burden of safety on women's shoulders and blames them when they fail, rape culture compels women to give up their freedoms and possibilities in order to be safe. Normalising a thing we should not: You know, the things which happen regularly or which we see around us happening often is generally considered to be a normal thing. The things which happen rarely or happen out of the box is considered to be an abnormal thing. And somewhat it is correct also but not in every case. Just a thing happening regularly and very often shouldn't be considered as normal. Wait for minute, and think about rape. Well not rape now, rape and murder. Is rape and murder of a ...
Read more

The Day we, the people of INDIA were declared DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC !

Image
    26th day of January, 1950 when our Indian Constitution came into force and the dream of becoming an independent republic country became a reality.  Today, we celebrate the Republic day with delight and magnificence paying respect to the soldiers who have laid down their lives for the protection of our country and its people to breathe with peace. The Constitution of India is the largest constitution in the world and it provides the people with different rights, duties and rules to follow.  On this day, 71 years ago, the Constitution of India gave its citizens the immense power to govern themselves by choosing the government on their own which can help their society grow and prosper. Empowered by the Constitution (Right to vote), the citizens must use their voting power in order to help our country become more prosperous in the coming future by selecting the right government which leads the country on the path of prosperity. Most people don't know the significance...
Read more