Sedition 124A
https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/historic-supreme-court-decision-on-sedition-law/
A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice Suryakant and Justice Hima Kohli said that the rights of citizens should be protected. The Chief Justice asked how many petitioners are in jail. On this, Kapil Sibal said that 13,000 people are in jail. Chief Justice Ramana said, “We have given a lot of thought to this matter. In this case, we are giving orders. The Chief Justice, while reading out the order, said that it would not be appropriate to use the law of treason till reconsideration. We hope and believe that the Center and the States will refrain from filing any FIR under Section 124A of the IPC.
In fact, in the Supreme Court, the Center has decided to reconsider the law, so the hearing should be adjourned. “We can postpone the hearing, but we are concerned about the persistent misuse of the law, and the Attorney General has stated this,” the bench said. On this, the Solicitor General said that lawsuits are being filed by the states, in which the Center has no role. After this, the bench said, “Why don’t you tell the states not to file a case in this case till the central government revises the law.”
“We have drafted the directive to be issued to the state governments,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Center, told the court during a hearing in the Supreme Court on Wednesday challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law. According to him, the state governments will have clear instructions that no FIR will be registered under the treason clause without the approval of the District Police Captain i.e. SP or a higher level official. The Solicitor General also told the court that the police officer would also give sufficient reasons to support the registration of an FIR under the provisions of treason. He said alternative measures were possible until the law was reconsidered.
A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court on behalf of the retired Major General stating that the provision and interpretation given in Section 124A (Treason) of the IPC is not clear. Its provisions violate the fundamental rights of the Constitution. All citizens have basic rights. This includes freedom of thought and expression in section 19 (1) (a). At the same time, section 19 (2) contains appropriate restrictions. But the provision of treason is against the provisions of the constitution.
In fact, in 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that every citizen had the right to comment and criticize the workings of the government. Criticism has a definite scope and to criticize within that limit is not treason. However, the apex court had also clarified that there should be no attempt to disrupt public order or spread violence. Anyone who makes a statement or attempts to spread violence and disturb public order will be charged with treason.
12/05/2022
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