LAW AND BEHOLD

Governments have used the anti-sedition law to quell dissent. Several writers, journalists, cartoonists, politicians, activists and students have got entangled. The Supreme Court has now asked the Union government why it is not repealing the provision

- NAMRATA BIJI AHUJA

On the night of December 17, 1995, a large consignment of weapons, including AK-47 rifles and several hundred rounds of ammunition, was airdropped from an aircraft in the Purulia district of West Bengal. The weapons were confiscated by the police after the locals informed them about the mysterious event. A Dane named Niels Holck, also known as Kim Peter Davy, was later found to be the kingpin behind the operation, and the Central Bureau of Investigation slapped sedition charges in the case.

The sensational events captured the imagination of the public and the political circles: there were allegations that the arms drop was plotted to destabilise the Left Front government of Jyoti Basu in West Bengal. The CBI issued a statement in 2011 dismissing claims that the operation had the nod of “political forces” at the Centre.

An illegal act of this sort, that has the potential to incite an armed revolt against an elected government, can best be described as a seditious act and not just a terrorist plot.

Loknath Behera, a senior IPS officer involved in the investigation of the Purulia arms drop case, said the anti-sedition law should be used sparingly since it entails heavy punishment up to life imprisonment. Moreover, it is also a difficult offence to prove in court. “Sedition cannot be invoked for small offences,” he said. “It has to be used judiciously in the context of the Kedar Nath Singh [vs the State of Bihar] judgment [of 1962], where the constitutionality of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code was tested and upheld.”