Apex court hints at referring sedition case to 7-judge bench

A PROPOSED LAW, INTRODUCED IN THE LOK SABHA ON AUGUST 11, HAS EFFECTIVELY RETAINED SEDITION AS A CRIME UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME

- Utkarsh Anand

The Supreme Court on Wednesday hinted at referring a clutch of petitions questioning the validity of the sedition law prescribed under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) directly to a Constitution bench of seven judges instead of first listing it before a five-judge bench.

In September, the court said that the matter should be placed before the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on the administrative side for setting up a Constitution bench with appropriate strength of judges, even as it rejected the Union government's request to defer scrutinising the penal provision because a new law on the subject was in the pipeline.

A proposed law, which was introduced by the Centre in the Lok Sabha on August 11 and was subsequently referred to a parliamentary panel, has effectively retained sedition as a crime under a different name and with an expansive definition.

The home affairs panel, in its report that was adopted earlier this month, approved of the new provisions, stating it "compliments the government in deleting the term 'sedition' from criminal law by rephrasing it without compromising the security of the State".

The new law is likely to be passed in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.