New Delhi, May 1.
The government of India on Monday assured the Supreme Court that a review of the sedition laws was underway and certain changes in the law were expected to be pushed through during the monsoon session of Parliament, prompting the court to defer a hearing on its legality.
A stay on any fresh FIRs under the colonial-era provision will though continue for now.
Though the court has upheld the legality of Section 124A in an earlier ruling, there have been demands to review the law because of its misuse by successive governments to quell dissent.
A bunch of petitions demanding a change in the law are pending in the top court. Demands have been made to refer it to a 7-judge bench for a quick hearing. But when the court convened to decide on a date for hearing the case, the government claimed that it was keen to modify the law.
“Consultations are at the final stages. The government is keen to push reform,” he said. The Supreme Court then posted the matter for Aug, 2023.
The top court had on May 11, 2022, placed a restraint on use of the provision to file FIRs while the government debated the issue.
The changes were expected to come during the winter session but are yet to be finalised.
Section 124A of the IPC makes exciting or attempting to excite disaffection towards the government established by law a criminal offence. It is punishable with a jail term which may extend for a life or for three years.
This law has been upheld time and again by the top court.
The Supreme Court first upheld the law in 1962 when the court said in the Kedarnath Singh Case that the crime was restricted to cases of actual violence or incitement to violence against the government.
But its increasing misuse prompted the top court to step in and restrain the government from using it against dissidents, journalists and politicians.
Most modern legal jurisdictions no longer treat sedition was an offence and most have done away with it in the interest of free speech. Some countries though still retain sedition as an offence not for citizens but aliens.
