Sedition law

• With a view to preventing any “alleged misuse” of the provision, the Law Commission of India, in its 279th report, has proposed retaining the law of sedition (Section 124A) with key amendments.
  • The Commission is currently headed by former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi.

ABOUT SEDITION

• The law defines sedition as any act or attempt to bring into hatred or contempt, or excite or attempt to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India by:
  • words, either spoken or written.
  • visible representation, or otherwise.
• It was introduced by the British colonial government in 1870 to suppress the freedom movement and punish those who spoke or wrote against British rule.
• Sedition is a cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offense, entailing life imprisonment as maximum punishment, with or without a fine.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON SEDITION

• Sedition being a colonial law not a valid ground for its repeal.
• It should be made punishable with life imprisonment or for a term up to 7 years or with a fine.
  • Currently, Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with sedition, has a punishment of a life sentence along with a fine or imprisonment which may extend up to three years along with a fine.
• The Union government should bring in model guidelines to prevent misuse of the sedition law.
• An FIR on sedition should be filed only after a preliminary inquiry and with the government’s permission by amending Section 154 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• The words ‘hatred’, ‘contempt’ and ‘disaffection’ should be replaced by ‘incitement to violence’ in Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with sedition.
• Amend Section 124A to align with Kedar Nath’s Case (1962) which underlines the presence of a tendency to incite violence as a precondition to invoke the clause.