The Scorching Sedition Law

The Apex Court has recently suspended criminal trials and court proceedings pending under section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code.

The Supreme Court of India has suspended the trials till the Union Government completes the process of reconsidering & re-examining the provision. The Union Government has filed an affidavit to do the same, after it acknowledged the concerns about application & abuse of the said provision in the public domain.

FRESH CHALLENGE TO SEDITION LAW

Kishore Chandra Wangkhemcha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla, two journalists were charged with sedition for posts and cartoons published on social media platforms. They filed a writ petition challenging the validity of Section 124-A, although the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petitions. The petitioners have argued that the restricted Kedar Nath definition of sedition can be addressed through various other laws such as UAPA.

Section 124-A of Indian Penal Code defines sedition as :-
“Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added.”
The provision further contains explanations defining ‘disaffection’ and also the acts that do not constitute offence under this section. The term ‘disaffection’ pertains to disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. Any conduct seeking lawful alterations to government or administrative procedures and expressing discontent towards them without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt, or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this possession.
ORIGIN OF SEDITION LAW
Thomas Macaulay, who drafted the Indian Penal Code, had included the law on sedition. However it was not added in the code enacted in 1860 . Through Special Act XVII, in 1890, sedition found its way into Indian Penal Code. In 1955, the punishment to this offence was amended from “transportation beyond the seas for the term of his or her natural life” to “imprisonment” .
The purpose of this provision was to curb political dissent in those times of colonialism. The most notable trial on sedition, i.e Empress v. Bal Gangadhar Tilak took place in 1898. It is not without reason that M.K Gandhi called it, “the prince among the political sections of the Indian Penal Code designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen.”
As per section 124-A, sedition is a non bailable offense punishable with imprisonment from three years up to life, along with a fine.

If the court strikes down Section 124-A as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech it may help larger cause of preventing misuse of provisions relating to speech based offences. Right to free speech and personal liberty are hallmarks of a democratic country and sedition laws and it’s unfair application and misuse attack the very foundation of these rights enshrined in our Indian Constitution.