Sedition lawww Flashcards
Historical Background of sedition law:
enacted in 17th century England
> The law was originally drafted in 1837 by Thomas
Macaulay, the British historian-politician, omitted in
IPC 1860.
> Section 124A was inserted in 1870 by an amend-
ment introduced by Sir James Stephen when it
felt the need for a specific section to deal with
the offence.
Today the Sedition is a crime under Section 124A
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Sedition law today
sedition is an offence under IPC Section 124A
when “any person by words, either spoken or
written, or by signs, or by visible representation,
or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into
hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to
excite disaffection towards the government
established by law in India”.
disaffection- disloyalty or enmity
purpose of Sedition law explained in simple words
only good opinions abt govt shld survive the bad ones are detrimental for govt and monarchy
sedition law should be done away with as it is a relic of colonial era
2021, the CJI (Chief Justice of India) had
questioned why a colonial law used against Mahatma
Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak continued to survive
in the law book after 75 years of Independence as it is prone to misuse by govt.
other national leaders affected by sedition law under british: Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal
Nehru, Bhagat Singh, etc.,
which SC judgement limited application of sedition
to “acts involving intention or tendency to create
disorder, or disturbance of law and order, or
incitement to violence”.
Thus, invoking sedition charges against acade-
micians, lawyers, socio-political activists and students is in disregard of the Supreme Court’s
order.
Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Singh vs State of
Bihar case 1962,
February 2021 devps
(SC) protected a
political leader and six senior journalists from arrest,
for allegedly tweeting and sharing unverified news,
in multiple sedition FIRs registered against them.
June 2021 devps
SC while protecting two Telugu
(language) news channels from coercive action by the
Andhra Pradesh government emphasized on defining
the limits of sedition.
July 2021,
petition was filed in the SC, that sought
a relook into the Sedition Law,
The court ruled that “a statute criminalizing
expression based on unconstitutionally vague
definitions of ‘disaffection towards Government’ etc.
is an unreasonable restriction on the fundamental
right to free expression guaranteed under Article
19 (1)(a) and causes constitutionally impermissible
‘Chilling Effect’ on speech”.
2022 rcnt devps
The Government has sought more time to submit its
written response to petitions challenging the constitutional
validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code dealing
with the offense of sedition.
art 19, 19[1A] and art 19[2] connxn to the matter
refer the art and relate to issue.
clat paper they may ask which art is being challenge by the law.
refer: wfpi may to understand the articles
