Sedition 124A

Sedition Law under Consideration | The Week That Wasn't with Cyrus Broacha https://youtu.be/--xZRfzDJ5E?t=298

KEEP THE SEDITION LAW IN ABEYANCE: SUPREME COURT RULES IN A HISTORIC ORDER  11 May 2022 https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/breaking-supreme-court-urges-centre-states-to-refrain-from-registering-firs-invoking-section-124a-ipc-198810

"We hope and expect Centre and State Governments will refrain from registering any FIR, continuing investigation, or taking coercive steps under Section 124 A IPC when it is under reconsideration. It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further re-examination is over".. The Court also held that those already booked under Section 124A IPC and are in jail can approach the concerned courts for bail. It has also been ruled that if any fresh case is registered appropriate parties are at liberty to approach courts for appropriate relief

On Sedition Law, Government's Big Climbdown In Supreme Court https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbhJnlJ_rZg May 9, 2022

Two days after firmly defending the country's colonial-era sedition law and asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the pleas challenging it, the government on Monday did an about-face, saying it has decided to review the legislation. In a new affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the centre said, "In the spirit of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (75 years of Independence) and the vision of PM Narendra Modi, the Government of India has decided to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of Section 124A, Sedition law."

Comment: SS:  The sublime intention so very beautifully expressed is meant only to kill the current petition. For now, nothing more, nothing less."In view of this, the government “ respectfully submitted that this Hon’ble court may not invest time in examining the validity of Section 124A once again and be pleased to await the exercise of reconsideration to be undertaken by the Government of India before an appropriate forum where such reconsideration is constitutionally permitted"Ananthakrishnan G  May 10, 2022 - https://indianexpress.com/article/india/will-reconsider-provisions-of-sedition-law-centre-tells-sc-7908127/

"To Buy Time": Trinamool's Mahua Moitra Shreds Centre's New Plan On Sedition Law  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3C3C7DnP8w May 9, 2022 Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, one of the petitioners who called for the colonial-era sedition law to be scrapped, told NDTV today that the government's sudden move to decide on a review of the law is "just a ploy to buy time". The matter, she said, deserves to be referred to a seven-judge bench.

Is It Time To Scrap Sedition Law? Top Judge & Advocates Opine | News Today with Rajdeep Sardesai  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgAF2pQgAl0 May 10, 2022
Former Judge Pradeep Nandrajog, Senior Advocate in Supreme Court Dushyant Dave, ASG Satya Pal Jain (https://youtu.be/FgAF2pQgAl0?t=496) and Advocate Abhinav Chandrachud over the brewing issue of scrapping of sedition law in India.

Does India Really Need Sedition Law? | Left, Right & Centre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7TNEdmTqX4  May 8, 2022

Ahead of the crucial hearing in Supreme Court on the petitions challenging the Sedition law, the Centre has defended the colonial-era law saying there is no need to scrap it. Is sedition law essential or is it now archaic? Is going against the dominant narrative seditious and do sedition laws have a place in modern democracy?

India’s Sedition Law: Will the repressive law survive?  May 4, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl7JIAt0g90 

On May 5 2022, the Supreme Court of India will be hearing multiple pleas challenging the validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code or sedition law. Will this contentious law finally be done away with? With the final hearing on the matter ready to take place tomorrow, that remains to be seen.

A Decade of Darkness in India:  https://sedition.article-14.com/ an Article 14 database that mines multiple media, legal and police sources to record all sedition cases filed nationwide between January 2010 and February 2021. 

More than 13,000 Indians, trapped by a colonial law, are suspended in a legal blackhole. More than 800 sedition cases have been filed against 13,000 Indians since 2010.

Assam:  Govt Critics, Dissenters, Anti-CAA Activists: In Assam, Anti-BJP Actions Seen As Acts Of Sedition https://www.article-14.com/post/govt-critics-dissenters-anti-caa-activists-in-assam-anti-bjp-actions-seen-as-acts-of-sedition-6216f8cbeeec5 MAKEPEACE SITLHOU 24 Feb 2022 Part II:   https://www.article-14.com/post/led-by-complaints-from-hindu-groups-police-violate-sc-rules-accuse-27-young-assamese-muslims-of-sedition-621837b0f2b3d  The Assam police invoked section 124 A in 27 cases in 2018; 17 in 2019; and 12 in 2020.
A similar pattern of arrests was seen in Assam’s application of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967, most recently in August 2021 when the state’s special director general of police (law and order) announced 16 arrests under the UAPA for Facebook posts “supporting” the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. These 16 accused were not charged under section 124 A.  By October, 14 of the 16 had been granted bail by lower courts, reportedly for lack of evidence. In four of the seven cases of sedition examined by Article 14, the complainants had links to the BJP’s student organisation, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), or right wing groups like the Bajrang Dal.

https://countercurrents.org/2022/05/sedition-must-go/

May 11, 2022, was a historic day indeed for the Constitution of India and for “we the people”! In a  landmark order, the Supreme Court put on hold Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, known as the sedition law. The 152-year-old colonial era law, said the order, should be kept in abeyance till the Central Government reconsiders the provision. The order was pronounced by a three-member bench comprising Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition offence.

The three-page order of the Supreme Court states among other things, “This Court is cognizant of security interests and integrity of the State on one hand, and the civil liberties of citizens on the other. There is a requirement to balance both sets of considerations, which is a difficult exercise. The case of the petitioners is that this provision of law dates back to 1898, and pre-dates the Constitution itself, and is being misused”.

by Cedrick Prakash

17/05/2022

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