The controversial sedition law will be paused while the government reviews it, the Supreme Court said today in a landmark order that impacts hundreds charged under the colonial-era relic. Those jailed for sedition can approach courts for bail.
The SC order is based on the stand of the Union of India and extensively quotes the Government’s affidavit, which mentions PM Narendra Modi’s unequivocal views against the colonial law, officials said.
Stating that there is a “requirement to balance… security interests and integrity of the State… and the civil liberties of citizens” and taking into account the “clear stand” of the Centre, Supreme Court said the central government should complete its promised exercise “to re-examine and re-consider the provisions of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code” dealing with the offence of sedition.
Besides, it allowed the Centre “to issue the Directive as proposed and placed before us, to the State Governments/Union Territories to prevent any misuse of Section 124A of IPC”.
Earlier in the day, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court, which is hearing the sedition law case, that the Centre has prepared a draft for the reconsideration of the law. The draft states that an FIR will be registered with sedition charges only if a police officer of the rank of SP says there is a valid reason for the same.
Congress leader Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, said there were over 800 cases of sedition across India and 13,000 people were in jail.
The proposed advisory states that an “FIR involving Section 124A will be registered only if an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police is satisfied and records his satisfaction in writing that the offence alleged involves Section 124A as analysed by Supreme Court in captioned judgment.”
Government officials also said the SC has stayed trials where individual offence alleged in the FIR is only sedition (Section 124A), but cases where sedition is one of the offences, along with other serious offences, will continue as pleaded by the Solicitor General and accepted by the SC.
“The government will suitably take into account views of the stakeholders and ensure that the sovereignty and integrity of the nation is preserved, while re-examining and re-considering the law on sedition,” said the union Law minister Kiren Rijiju, stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked to re-examine and reconsider the provision of sedition law and urged to remove the obsolete sedition law/.
