BAN SEDITION LAW (Above) Editor-in-Chief, APN channel, Rajshri Rai (extreme right) with the panellists on the show. The right to freedom of expression is an essential feature of democracy and people must be allowed to voice their opinions even if these are not in consonance with the government's viewpoint
RECENTLY, the sedition law was challenged in the Supreme Court after which the Court put an interim stay on it. The Court heard petitions challenging the validity of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) seeking directions to quash it. In the consequent interim order, the Court made three important points. Firstly, no case shall be registered under the sedition law. Secondly, the cases which are already registered under this Section will be kept in abeyance. Thirdly, these orders will remain in force until the Court gives any further order or the government does not take any decision on the sedition law.
Now the question uppermost in all minds is: Will the sedition law be repealed by the Supreme Court? Radhika Jha, a research executive with Common Cause, which is one of the petitioners in the case, said: “The thrust of our petition was the misuse of the sedition law to throttle freedom of expression. We had prayed that criticism of the government in no way can be construed as sedition. If someone is drawing cartoon, raising Dalit rights’ issue or invoking Pakistan in one’s comments, it shouldn’t be construed as sedition.”
During the hearing, Attorney General of India KK Venugopal had argued that the misuse of Section 124A has been brought under control. At the same time, after the verdict, the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju felt that the Court was encroaching on the Laksh man Rekha between the Executive and the Judiciary, and said no one should cross their “boundary”.
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