NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday put in abeyance the 152-year-old non-bailable sedition law "to protect people" from arrests and "preserve the civil liberty of citizens" until the government takes a call on its review.
“It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further re-examination is over. We hope and expect the Centre and states will desist from registering any FIR [First Information Report] under Section 124A or initiate proceedings under the same till its re-examination is over,” said the CJI N V Ramana-led bench, which also comprised justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
Those already booked under the law may apply for bail. However, many of those languishing in jails under Section 124A may not be released as the usual practice is to slap multiple criminal charges on the accused, to ensure they do not easily get freedom.
The salient features of the order are:
-- Until re-examination of the sedition law provision is complete, no case will be registered under Section 124A, nor any investigation be taken up under this provision;
-- Those already booked under the sedition law, and are in jail, could approach the competent court for appropriate relief and the court will expeditiously consider the question of bail;
-- Reliefs granted to the accused by the court would continue;
-- If any fresh cases are filed, concerned parties may approach court and the latter will expeditiously dispose of the same;
-- The Centre is at liberty to issue additional directions to the states to prevent misuse of the law.
-- Without fixing any deadline for completion of review of the provision, the Bench fixed the third week of July -- when the Apex Court's summer vacation ends -- for hearing pleas challenging the sedition law's validity, hoping that the Centre would by then have agreed to re-examination.
The offence of sedition is punishable with jail term ranging from three years to life.
CJI Ramana said the court has to undertake a difficult exercise of balancing civil liberty and sovereignty of the nation.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioners, once again argued that the law be scrapped. He pointed out that there are over 800 cases of sedition filed across India, under which 13,000 people are languishing in jails.
After firmly defending the sedition law and repeatedly asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the pleas challenging it, the government on Monday did an about-turn, saying it has decided to review the legislation. According to government sources the U-turn came on the instructions from Prime Minister Modi himself.
Section 124A of the IPC dealing with sedition was drafted by Thomas Babington Macaulay and included in the IPC in 1870. As CJI Ramana mentioned in the course of the hearing, it was used by the British against freedom fighters, including Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, branding them as terrorists.
The Supreme Court had on Tuesday accepted the Centre's prayer to re-examine the sedition law.
Sedition is a non-bailable offence and the punishment varies from imprisonment up to three years to a life term and fine. A person charged under this law can't apply for a government job, nor can he obtain a passport to travel abroad and he is required to be present in court, as and when required.
Section 124A of the IPC, which deals with sedition, states: "Whoever, by words, either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added or with fine."
