Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, May 5: In the petitions challenging Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises sedition, a three-judge Supreme Court panel decided on Thursday to consider whether a referral to a larger bench is necessary, because a five-judge bench in the Kedar Nath decision of 1962 had retained the section after reading it down.
On May 10, a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Hima Kohli will hear preliminary arguments on the question of reference at 2 p.m.
All parties have until Saturday to file written responses on the matter of reference, according to the bench. The Centre has been given till Saturday to submit its counter written comments on the question of reference. The Centre has been given till May 9 to file its response.
Notably, five parties, including the Editors Guild of India and Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra, have filed petitions contesting the sedition statute. The Editors Guild of India filed the petition after FIRs were filed against journalists Rajdeep Sardesai and Mrinal Pande over tweets alleging violence during farmer protests on January 26, 2021.
Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, speaking on behalf of the Editors Guild, stated that it was about the question of law. “Colonial masters do not control us anymore. We own our own destiny,” said Sibal while discussing previous sedition decisions.
“So many people are in jail. Every day spent in jail by a student or journalist because of sedition law is against the very idea of India,” he argued.
The AG reaffirmed his previous position on the sedition legislation, claiming that its misuse has been controlled. He believes that some standards on “what is permitted and what is prohibited,” as well as what constitutes sedition, are needed. He also mentioned the Mumbai instance of the Rana couple, who were charged with sedition for reciting the Hanuman Chalisa.
The Attorney General argued for the law to not be repealed but to be more clearly defined.
