Editorial: Time up for sedition law
The NDA government’s approach towards sedition law has been tentative and ambiguous and fails to inspire any confidence. Its recent submission before the Supreme Court that ‘some changes’ were being contemplated in the colonial-era law doesn’t meet public expectations. Nothing short of scrapping the draconian law would do. Apart from making some vague statements about […]
The NDA government’s approach towards sedition law has been tentative and ambiguous and fails to inspire any confidence. Its recent submission before the Supreme Court that ‘some changes’ were being contemplated in the colonial-era law doesn’t meet public expectations. Nothing short of scrapping the draconian law would do. Apart from making some vague statements about the proposed changes in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Centre has not put any details in the public domain for debate. Attorney General R Venkatramani had told a Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, that the government was deliberating on the issue and that some change could be expected before the next parliamentary session. In May this year, the apex court put on hold trial in all sedition cases pending before courts across the country until the government completes its promised exercise to re-examine and re-consider the provisions of Section 124A of the IPC dealing with the offence of sedition. It had also directed that all those in jail on sedition charges could approach the court for bail. In recent times, there have been several instances of arbitrary and unjustified use of draconian provisions on ordinary citizens. As far back as 1962, the Supreme Court had ruled that sedition charges could not be invoked against a citizen for criticism of government actions as it would be in conformity with the freedom of speech and expression.
But, successive administrations conveniently ignored these riders and started wielding the provision as a speech-muzzling tool. It is incongruous for a liberal and free democratic country to have a sedition law that fights its own citizens. In fact, criticism of the government of the day is an essence of democracy and should not be viewed as anti-national activity. It is time a national consensus was built in favour of scrapping the sedition law. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data shows that between 2016 and 2019, there has been a 160% increase in the filing of sedition charges with a conviction rate of just 3.3% while only two persons could be convicted out of 93 people charged in 2019. The misuse of the sedition law has destroyed many lives. Formulated during British rule to suppress the freedom struggle, it is now being widely misused against dissenters. It is ironic that while the United Kingdom abolished the offence of sedition in 2009 after it had become obsolete for many years, India is still prevaricating over the issue. There is already a robust legal architecture in place to deal with those trying to incite violence or threaten the integrity of the nation. In 2018, the Law Commission too had recommended that sedition law should not be used to curb free speech.
