By Samriddhi Thakar
Introduction
“Is it still necessary to have colonial law even after 75 years of Independence?”, was asked by the Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana to the Attorney General of India K.K. Venugopal representing the Government of India. Sedition is an old and draconian law of India.
Recently there has been a significant rise in the number of people being charged for sedition. It would not be wrong to say that charging a person for sedition who criticizes the government has become a trend. Every other day some or the other person is charged for sedition.
Some of the recent cases like Vinod Dua, Aisha Sultana, Disha Ravi were charged against sedition for criticizing the government.
Hence, with the increasing number of sedition cases, CJI of India has raised the issue if India really needs sedition law even after so many years of independence. He has also asked the government to look into it.
Thus, this article deals with the sedition law in the light of recent Supreme Court order and comparison of sedition law of India with other countries.
What is Sedition?
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code defines Sedition as, “Whoever, 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 shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.”[1]
Sedition simply means any person who by making use of words either spoken, written, or signs or by visible representations tries to incite violence in the society against the Government.
Whoever tries to create disaffection in the minds of people against the Government and provokes them to incite violence can be said to have committed sedition and can be held under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.
What is recent order of the Supreme Court?
A few days ago, a former army officer, Major General SG Vombatkere (Retd), filed a plea challenging the constitutional validity of Section 124A Sedition of the Indian Penal Code. He was of the view that this section causes a “chilling effect” on speech and is an unreasonable restriction on free speech which is a fundamental right granted to the citizens of India by the Indian Constitution.
He further said that “a statute criminalising 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”. [2]
Apart from him, two more journalists Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha from Manipur and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla from Chhattisgarh too had filed a petition in the Court to scrap the draconian law and hence, the Court had issued notice to the Centre regarding the same.
Thus, the Supreme Court in the light to solve this matter expeditiously asked the Centre their views on this law and whether this draconian law which was enacted to restrict the freedom movement of Indians, punishing important freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhiji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was necessary even after 75 years of independence.
A bench consisting of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy asked the Centre regarding the sedition law and how long they are going to continue using the law. They were of the opinion that the law should be used only for the protection of the nation and its security.
However, the sedition law has been grossly misused in recent times. Every other person who criticizes the Government is charged against the sedition law.
The law was basically enacted by the Britishers to stop the freedom movement started by the Indians. But, even after so many years of Independence the law is still existing and creating havoc in society.
The CJI further said that “A saw is given to a carpenter to make furniture. But if he turns it on trees and clears forests, the impact is devastating.”
Further, he also cited an example of the March 2015 judgement in the Shreya Singhal case, where Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which was used to arrest people who criticized the Government on social media platforms was struck down but still continues to be used.
He also argued that the conviction rate is very low as compared to the number of people charged under this section. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 559 persons were arrested for sedition between 2014 to 2019. Out of them, only 10 people were convicted. Around 107 people were charged for sedition in 2020.[3]
Thus, we can see that the law of sedition is grossly misused in recent times and many unfortunate people have suffered because of this. Even more, there is no accountability for all this.
He further questioned that many stale laws have been removed from the law books then why have they not scrapped this colonial law. The situation is grave. If any one party does not like what other is saying, Section 124A is imposed on him. It is creating serious threat on the functioning of individual and parties.
No one can express their views clearly due to fear of getting charged against sedition. This law has in a way taken away the right to free speech and expression of the individuals which is the fundamental right of a citizen.
The same was seen in the case of Vinod Dua Vs Union of India & Ors,[4] where FIR was filed against the famous journalist and he was charged for sedition as he criticized the Government on his YouTube show. However, the FIR was quashed by the Supreme Court by stating that every journalist has the right to criticize the Government if it does not incite any violence against the Government or hatred between communities.
Even Mahatma Gandhiji who was charged for sedition called it “the prince among the political sections of the Indian Penal Code designed to suppress the liberty of the citizens.”[5]
Therefore, in reply Attorney General KK Venugopal on behalf of the Government held that the law need not to be struck down but the Court can lay down certain guidelines restricting the use of Section 124A of the IPC. He admitted that the misuse of Section 124A is a serious issue.
In 1962 in the case of Kedar Nath Singh, broad parameters of what would constitute sedition were laid down. Further, he said that fresh guidelines can be issued instead of striking down the whole provision as it will meet its legal purpose.
How is Sedition in other countries?
UK & India
The offense of sedition first emerged in the year 1275 when the King was deemed to be the owner of the Divine Right and the questions of feudal society were not questioned. The offense of seditious libel was established by the Star Chamber case De Libellis Famosis of 1606. The punishment used to be imprisonment along with loss of the offender’s ear.
The definition of sedition was first derived from the case of R v. Sullivan. It described sedition as any deed, irrespective of whether written or verbal, which turned out to be derogatory towards the state and responsible for disturbing societal harmony.
Britain’s Law Commission had recommended the abolition of the sedition law way back in 1977. Further, the sedition law was abolished through the Coroners and Justice Act, 2009.
The sedition law of India was a result of Macaulay’s draft penal code. However, it was omitted from the IPC when it was enacted in the year 1860. Later on, it was enacted in 1870 under Section 124 of the IPC. It was amended again in 1898.
Currently, the law of sedition is defined in Section 124A of the IPC. It says that anyone who tries to create disaffection in the minds of people against the Government and provokes them to incite violence commits the offense of sedition.
It is important to note that the law on sedition was repealed by the UK way back in 2009. However, India continues to employ the law even today after so many years of independence affecting the free speech and expression of the citizens. It was realized by the UK that this law is affecting the freedom of speech of its people.
However, it was not recognized by India and hence the law is still in effect.
USA & India
Sedition law in the United States of America was made a punishable offense in the year 1798 through the Sedition Act. Further, this act was abolished in the year 1820.
However, this act was again enacted by the U.S Congress during the First World War to safeguard American interests.
Currently, sedition conspiracy is a serious felony punishable with a fine and up to 20 years of punishment. So, if we compare Indian sedition law with the US sedition law it is clear that the law in the USA is very much stringent as compared to India and much more draconian.
Malaysia & India
The Sedition Act in Malaysia was introduced by the British colonial government in the year 1948 to use against local communist insurgents. The law bans any act speech or publication that brings contempt against the government or Malaysia’s nine royal sultans.
Further, it also prohibits people from inciting hatred between different races and religions.[6] The punishment for the offense is three years imprisonment and a fine.
There is no such difference between Indian sedition law and Malaysian sedition law. Both the countries law punishes the people for bringing contempt against the government and the punishment for the offense is also more or less similar in both the countries.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is very clear that the sedition law of India is very much misused and the time has now come to abolish such a draconian law. As mentioned earlier, the law was enacted by the Britishers to suppress the freedom movement. But now even after 75 years of independence, the law is still operating. It has no place in today’s India.
Today, India is an independent country and very different from what it was before independence. Now, every citizen has the right to speak freely, express their opinions, and criticize the government.
However, this law has restricted the freedom given to the citizens under Article 19(a) of the Indian Constitution.
The time has now come to abolish the law which the Britishers had enacted. The country which enacted the law in India has itself abolished the law way back in 2009 and still, our country is practicing the same law.
As it is suggested by the AG KK Venugopal to issue guidelines regarding this matter, but in my opinion merely issuing guidelines won’t be enough. The time has come to scrap the law and allow people to voice their opinions.
We live in the 21st century every person has the right to free speech and expression and the same is guaranteed by the Constitution of India. But if such law continues to prevail in society, it would become very difficult to speak and live freely. Hence, the law should be abolished.
References
- Indian Penal Code, Section 124A ↑
- Anantharkrishnan G, Sedition law colonial, is it still needed….concerned over misuse: Supreme Court, The Indian Express, available at : indianexpress.com (last visited on 18 July, 2021) ↑
- Dhananjay Mahapatra, Supreme Court: Why keep colonial sedition law used against Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak? , The Times of India, available at: timesofindia.indiatimes.com (last visited on 18 July, 2021) ↑
- Vinod Dua Vs Union of India & Ors, (CRL.) NO.154 OF 2020 ↑
- Republic of Dissent: Gandhi’s sedition trial, Mint, available at: livemint.com (last visited on 18 July, 2021) ↑
- Jennifer Pak, what is Malaysia’s Sedition law? BBC News, available at: bbc.com (last visited on 18 July, 2021) ↑