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- Supreme Court Verdict On 1962 Kedarnath Vs Bihar Case Over Sedition Case | Supreme Court
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The Supreme Court on Thursday heard the petitions challenging the sedition law. Where it was argued on behalf of the Center that this law should not be abolished, but new guidelines should be made for it. The court had said that it would start the final hearing in this matter from May 5. Now the next hearing will be held on May 10 at 2 pm.
The court had also said that it would not entertain any petition seeking adjournment of the hearing. A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramanna had on April 27 sought a response from the central government. Justice Suryakant and Justice Hima Kohli are also included in the bench. The Supreme Court has given the Center time till Monday morning to file its counter affidavit.
Special points of hearing on sedition law
- During the hearing, KK Venugopal told the Supreme Court that the sedition law should not be removed completely, but guidelines are needed on it. The Attorney General raised the matter of Navneet Rana and said that a case of sedition was made for reading Hanuman Chalisa. In such a situation, the court needs to make guidelines on the law.
- The issue of old Kedarnath also came up during the hearing. Justice Surya Kant said- Can we hear the case of sedition without sending it to a bigger bench?
- Kapil Sibal said- Yes, daily journalists and others are being arrested in sedition cases. This is the law of British era. After this, the SG said that the Kedarnath decision is after independence.
- Attorney General said- The question is whether Kedarnath’s decision was right or not. The Supreme Court then upheld the constitutional validity of the sedition law, but tried to limit the scope of its misuse.
- On April 27, the bench had asked the central government to file a reply, but during the hearing on Thursday, the Solicitor General sought more time.
- On this, the CJI said that 9 months ago, notice was given regarding this. But even after that time the reply was not filed.
Why the need for sedition law even after independence
The Editors Guild of India and former Major General SG Wombatkere had agreed to examine petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 124A (sedition) in the IPC. The court had said that our biggest concern is that the law is being misused, due to which the cases of sedition have also increased.
Such is the current form of the law
Those who have filed petitions on sedition include former Union Minister Arun Shourie, journalist Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha from Manipur, Kanhaiyalal Shukla from Chhattisgarh. This law has non-bailable provisions. That is, spreading hatred, contempt, dissatisfaction against the government established by law in India is considered a crime. The accused can be given life imprisonment as a punishment.
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