Sedition Law: A Matter of Concern

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Author: Tayyaba Siraj

Teerthanker Mahaveer University

BBA LLB (Hons) 


Recently Chief Justice of India N.V Ramana said sedition or section 124A of the Indian Penal code was prone to misuse by the government. “The use of sedition is like giving a saw to the carpenter to cut a piece of wood and he uses it to cut the entire forest itself”

A number of petitions have been recorded featuring the “chilling impact” dissidence has on the crucial right of free discourse. On the off chance that we take a look at the historical backdrop of the utilization of this section 124 A of IPC, we will track down that the conviction rate is exceptionally low. There is an abuse of force by chief organizations.

In 2019, 93 cases were on the ground of rebellion when contrasted with the 35 cases that were recorded in 2016. The same comprises a 165℅ increment of these 93 cases, charge sheets were documented in a simple 17% of cases and surprisingly more terrible, the conviction rate was on appallingly low 3.3%. Public Crime Records Bureau reports show that in 2019, 21 instances of dissidence were shut by virtue of no proof, two were shut being bogus cases and six cases were held to be respectful debates.

In May, Justice D.Y Chandrachud said “the time has come to characterize the constraints of rebellion”. The Judge had hailed the unpredictable utilization of the rebellion law against individuals who circulated their complaints about the public authority’s COVID the board, or in any event, for looking for help to acquire clinical access, hardware, drugs, and oxygen chambers, particularly during the second rush of the pandemic.

“This is gagging the media”, Justice L. Nageswara Rao, another Supreme Court Judge had noted while considering a supplication made by two TV channels, TVS, and ABN, against the Andhra Pradesh government for utilizing the dissidence law to quiet them.

Ongoing cases: Mr.Kumar had alluded to the dissidence bodies of evidence enlisted against environment Ravi, movie producer Aisha Sultana and writers Vinod Dua and Siddique Kappan.

Disha Ravi’s instance of capture on charges of subversion isn’t the first. The most scandalous ones incorporate that of Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, and Anirban Bhattacharya who were captured on charges of dissidence in 2016 for supposedly sorting out an occasion inside the JNU grounds where enemies of India trademarks were yelled.

In Bihar, Sharjeel Imam, Indian Muslim rights dissident was captured and accused of subversion for fiery discourse against CAA and NRC in Aligarh University in January 2020.

In Uttar Pradesh, 57 Kashmiri understudies were reserved for supporting Pakistan during a cricket match in 2014.

Atleast 233 individuals were hit with the charge of subversion for their supposed enemy of public exercises over the most recent five years as per 2020 information by National Crime Records Bureau.

Well, subversion law in a roundabout way may be forbidding basic right and in real analysis is an essential right, Article19(1)(a) awards the right to speak freely of discourse yet Criticism should be inside Constitutional structure.

Section124A of IPC says that words, signs, actual portrayal, or whatever other activity that brings or endeavors to bring scorn or disdain or endeavoring to energize offense towards the government, is named Sedition.

This law was instituted in 1860, under the British Raj to forestall any offenses against the state government set up by law.

Rebellion is a non-bailable offense. Discipline under this reaches from detainment up to 3years to a daily existence term, to which a fine might be added. An individual charged under this law is banished from administration work.

The sedition disagrees and detain political dissidents like Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak who reprimanded the arrangements of the pioneer organization.

According to the Kedar Nath judgment in 1962, the dissidence law should be applied in uncommon occasions where the security and sway of the nation is undermined. In any case, there are developing occasions to show that this law has been weaponised as a convenient apparatus against political opponents, to stifle dispute and free discourse.

So I think this is not a  beneficial arrangement as India is a vote based nation, where we have the right to speak freely of discourse and this is abused by the public authority in light of the fact that the law unmistakably expresses that dissidence is the resistance of state and not of government but rather this is unpredictably abused. Articulation of perspectives which contradicts & different from the assessment of the public authority can’t be named rebellious, comparatively, Delhi High Court’s decision in the Disha Ravi case unmistakably expressed that the public authority can’t put residents “in a correctional facility basically on the grounds that they decided to differ with the state arrangements. The right to speak freely of discourse and articulation is the sign of a vote-based system that is being compromised because of the sedition law. To finish up, subversion laws and their developing abuse involve genuine concern. The need of an hour requires the legal executives to audit sedition law.

Relevant links : 

  1. https://www.lawordo.com/bailable-and-non-bailable-offences/
  2. https://www.lawordo.com/judgments-on-freedom-of-speech-and-expression/
  3. https://www.lawordo.com/provisions-under-the-indian-penal-code/
  4. https://www.lawordo.com/inchoate-offences/

Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.

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