ABSTRACT
This research paper gives foundational ideas about sedition law in India and how it was introduced in India. It will tell us about the purpose of its introduction in India by the British empire and how it was misused to suppress the movement that was taking place against the British government. This research article will also tell us about the present situation of this law in India and how this law is now misused by various political parties in the 22nd century. It details the amendments which it requires so that this law cannot be used as a weapon against the opposing political parties by the party in power.
KEYWORDS
Sedition, Freedom of speech &expression, Section 124(A)
INTRODUCTION
Recently, the law commission of India, an executive body established by the order of the government of India in its 279th report recommended retaining Sedition law in India and proposed some amendments which it must go through so that its misuse can be prevented. These proposals came after the government in 2016 requested the law commission to examine the sedition law and recommend the amendments which Section 124(A) should go through. The Commission also argues that repealing Section 124A based on actions taken by other countries would surely ignore the uniqueness of India. The report says that removing the Sedition law solely based on the fact that it has its origin in colonial rule is not just an explanation for its removal. The report said if this law is to be removed solely based on the fact that it has colonial influence then the whole IPC, CrPC should be quashed because all of these law has their origin from colonial rule. The report also recommended a preliminary that should take place by a police officer of Inspector rank before registering any FIR (First information report) for sedition. The report published by the commission suggests amending Section 124A and making it declare that individuals with a tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder would be penalised. This report also recommended for amendments in the jail term for the law of Sedition to seven years or life imprisonment which was earlier up to three years or life imprisonment. This report also suggested that its misuse cannot justify the demand for repeal of Section 124(A). This report says that various laws have been misused by various political parties for their personal gain and suggested that repealing section 124(A) will have severe consequences for the national security and territorial integrity of India.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research paper conducts a secondary analysis about sedition law and its current situation in India along with various other countries. The method used in the research of this paper is a Doctrinal form of research. The nature of this research paper is descriptive and research work is done using sources which are secondary. This paper is prepared by learning from contents provided in various journals, books and articles.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
The sources used during research not only comprises research done from journals and books but sources such as online pdfs and e-books were also used for preparing this research paper. A few resources that were used were legal services India Journal, JSTOR, various articles of newspapers such as Indian Express, The Hindu, Book on Indian Penal Code by KD Gaur.
The book written by KD Gaur was very useful during the research work as it covers the topic in detail and in simple words and he used huge number of case laws to cover the topic.
Newspapers such as Indian express also helped the researcher in significant manner. It gave all the basic details about the law ranging from its history to the current situation.It helped to go through large number of views expressed by various writters, journalists and other critics.
SEDITION LAW AND ITS HISTORY
What is sedition?
(124A) Sedition—Sedition is an offence which is said to be committed when any person either by words, either spoken, written or by visible representation or otherwise, attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites to excites disaffection amongst the community of people against the government established by law.
Punishments for the offence of sedition
. Punishment for sedition is defined under section 124 (A) which includes imprisonment up to a term of 3 years or life imprisonment, to which a fine may also be added in some circumstances.
. Sedition is considered to be a non-bailable offence.
. A person once charged under this law cannot apply for any government jobs in future.
. A person charged with this offence is asked to appear before the court whenever it is required by the court.
. A person charged under this offence is barred from leaving the country under any circumstances.
HISTORY OF SEDITION LAW IN INDIA
Section 124(A) was originally not present in the original draft of the Indian penal code 1860 that was drafted by Thomas Babington Macaulay. It was introduced into the Indian penal code in 1870 by James Stephen. This section was introduced by James British Raj because of the increase in Wahabi activities and fear that Muslim preachers would incite religious war in the Indian subcontinent. Common people were very much troubled by the activities of the British Raj so there was a rise in disaffection amongst people against the British. This period saw the rise of various political leaders amongst whom this law was introduced to stop their activities.
The first case for the offence of sedition was introduced in 1891 in the case of Queen Empress vs Jogendra Chandra Bose & ors[1]. In this particular case editors of a Bengali magazine were charged with this offence for the criticism of British policies. In this case, the Sedition law was challenged and it was argued by the defendants that this particular law was only applicable to writing of the seditious content not publishing that seditious content. Calcutta high court in this case held that the defendant could not be acquitted simply based on the fact that the content which was said to be seditious was not written by them as the circulation was published intended to be read by the target audience. The court also concluded that sedition was in no way snatching the rights of the people.
The second case related to this law was Queen Empress vs Bal Gangadhar Tilak & Keshav Mahadev Pal[2]. In this Bal Gangadhar Tilak was tried in a case in which two British police officers died because of the incitement by Bal Gangadhar Tilak. In this case, the Bombay high court held that the intention of the offender is always of prime value in cases which involve such seditious speech. It was also held that having discontent with [3]the government is a criminal offence irrespective of the level of bad feeling. Twenty years later a new offence of sedition was alleged against him for writing an article that made a call for “swaraj” in India. Here, he criticized the civil services of the British crown. In this case, free speech got a positive impact as it took into account the impact of seditious speech in the public.
Sedition was introduced in the Draft Constitution of India but it was taken back after the discussion of constitutional assembly in 1948. K.M. Munshi was a person who introduced an amendment to delete the word “SEDITION” that was earlier given in Article 13 (2) of the constitution that was drafted. Sedition was completely removed from the Indian constitution on 26 NOVEMBER 1949 and freedom of speech and expression was given under Article 19(1) (a). But sedition continued to remain part of the Indian Penal Code 1860. An amendment was introduced by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1951 which introduced Article 19(2) to curtail the freedom of speech and expression which was granted under Article 19 (1) (a). Article 19(2) provided for reasonable restriction on freedom of speech and expression. Article 19(2) was not regarded as sedition but this article says that the state has power to impose reasonable restrictions whenever a situation has arisen in which the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation is under threat.
The law of sedition has always been a contentious topic various debates continuously arise on this topic. Many people have continuously recommended its implementation in such a way that the individual liberty to speak and express is not curtailed.
CASES INVOLVING SEDITION LAW
There are a few cases explained here related to sedition law:
Tara Singh gopi chand vs The State, 1951[4] –This was a case that is regarded as a first step in improving the situation of the society. It was the first case that challenged the constitutionality of sedition law in India. In this case, the judges mentioned that in Romesh Thapar’s case, some essentials to prove seditious offence was given which are public disorder, nuisance, and disaffection amongst the community. In the judgement given in this case court held that sedition restricts freedom of speech and expression even though only reasonable restrictions are imposed by the constitution on freedom of speech and expression.
Sabir Raza vs state, 1955[5]– In this case, it was held that speech cannot be regarded as a threat to the security of the state until it does not affect the proper functioning of the state. so the sedition law was declared void in this case because mere threatening or expressing hatred cannot be regarded as a threat to the peace and harmony of the society.
Ram Nandan vs State of Uttar Pradesh, 1959[6]– In this case, a person who was an agricultural activist was charged with the offence of sedition. The court in this case held that the law of [7]sedition is unconstitutional and ultra vires the fundamental rights given in the constitution of India. It was also noted that only the fact that there is always a possibility of public disruption in a society, imposing restraint on the freedom of speech and expression is not constitutional.
Kedar Nath vs State of Bihar, 1962[8]– This was the case that overruled all the previous judgements that were given on the sedition law. In this case, a person belonging to the Forward communist party made remarks against the Congress party. He claimed that the blood of Mazdoors is been sucked by this ruling government. He also made remarks against vinobha bhave and said he was the cause behind Congress’s rein full of bribery, and corruption. He was accused of violating section 505 of IPC and sedition. The court in this case ruled that freedom of speech and expression is a necessity for good governing of a democracy. It is necessary for a democracy to function to have freedom of speech with reasonable restrictions so that public order and the safety of a nation can be maintained. And it was also declared that unless there is no desire to cause public disorder act cannot be regarded as seditious.
COMPARISON WITH OTHER COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
Though sedition continues as a law in India but many countries around the world had already abolished this law because they feel such type of law act as a barrier in the overall growth and development of the country. There are some developed countries given below who had abolished such laws in their countries:-
UNITED KINGDOM– The country which ruled over India for almost a century has already repealed this law in 2009 because they felt that they do not need such laws in their country and it was rulers of this nation only who introduced sedition law in India. But India still practices this law although the nation which introduced this law in our country regards this law as obsolete and had abolished it a decade ago.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA– In this country freedom of speech have been granted wide production by the courts and this law is rarely used in America. This law is regarded by the citizens of America as obsolete and unconstitutional. This law has not been used by this nation for years.
SINGAPORE– Singapore like India took many of its laws from England. But this country removed this law in 2021 because they feel that the new laws which are made by them cover all the things which were previously covered under sedition law.
NEWZEALAND- The Crimes (Repeal of Seditious Offences) Amendment Bill that was introduced in New Zealand in 2007 led to the cessation of sedition law and this law came into force on 1 January 2008.
GHANA– In this African country sedition law was previously used to suppress the voice of Press but this country abolished this law on 27th July, 2001.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS RELATED TO SEDITION
Supreme Court on 11th May 2022 decided to review the sedition law and directed the centre and all the State to abstain from filing new FIR (FIRST INFORMATION REPORT) that contain sedition charges. And also directed that criminals in jails convicted in cases that invokes sedition charges can approach the court and obtain bail and also said this bail will be for a period until Supreme court decides on this issue. Supreme court also said that this law was for the country when India was under the Colonial rule and this law is not in tune with condition of today. This is the first time in the history of this law that it has been suspended by the supreme court for indefinite period of time. Former chief justice of India N.V. RAMANA in July 2021 said this law convicted Mahatma Gandhi.
Do the center thinks that the law is needed anymore in this Country? Many scholars in India often criticize this law because they feel that in a Democracy like India there is no need of such laws. Democracy means GOVERMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE and uses of such laws which restrains people’s right to speech and expression violates the concept of Democracy. In Case of Kedar Nath vs State of Bihar[9], it was decided that only those offence can be regarded as seditious offences where there is an eruption of public disorder or disaffection towards the government by the speech or any action of the offender. But in last 13 years thirteen thousand cases were registered in India for any act which were seditious in nature and of these thirteen thousand cases most of them were registered from mainly five states namely Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand. Between 2014-2019 in these five states 517 cases of sedition were registered. However, Surprising fact is not registration of cases related to sedition law in such a large number but that out of these 517 registered cases guilt was proved in only one hundred ten cases.
SOME RECENT CASES REGARDING SEDITION
DISHA A. RAVI vs STATE – This case is often known by the public as ‘toolkit case’. The facts of the case are that Disha Ravi was an environmental activist she was involved in the protest against the three farm laws which were introduced by the centre. She was accused of providing a toolkit in form of Google Docs that promoted Khalistan and it was a part of a conspiracy to create ruckus and public unrest against the government during farmer Protest. And it was alleged that this toolkit was created to destroy the image of India.The judgment passed by Supreme court was in favour of Activist Disha Ravi and Court held that Right to speak is a fundamental right which can not be surpressed. And court also said showing disagreement with the policies of government cannot be regarded as sedition.
VINOD DUA VS UNION OF INDIA,2021– The facts of the case are that one Vinod Dua who is a journalist and also receipent of ‘padmashree’ during covid lockdown made some statement criticizing the government regarding the lack of health facilities and on massive workers migration from different states. He was made accused under section 124A and section 505 of IPC for spreading wrong information and creating disaffection towards the government. Supreme court dismissed the case against Vinod Dua and held that criticizing the policies of government cannot be regarded as a seditious offence. Mr. Dua was just showing the concern towards the policies of government and every citizen of India has right to free speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 of Indian constitution which cannot be snatched away from the citizens.
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
Section 124A of Indian Penal Code which deals with sedition has now become obsolete and there is no need of it in a country like India. This law is continuously being misused by the political parties which comes to power. This law violates the Article 19 of the Indian Constituition which provides for freedom of speech and expression. We saw various cases where this law was used to suppress the voice of people where they expressed there dissatisfaction towards the government and criticized the policies made by the government. This law acts as threat for the growth of the country. So there was urgent need to reexamine this law as done by the supreme court in May,2021. And supreme court must examine this law carefully so that this threat in form of this law can be averted and remove all those provisions in this law which can be misused. We saw many unneccesary FIRs being registered which has forced the society to demand its removal. The quashing of this law is very important for democracy to remain alive in this country.
REFRENCES
- KD GAUR, INDIAN PENAL CODE, IVth Edition 2011
- Indian Penal Code , 1860
- Dhristi IAS
- Evolution of sedition laws in India, The Amikus Qriae
ESHAN SINGH
DR.B.R. AMBEDKAR NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,SONIPAT
[1] Queen Empress vs Jogendra Chandra Bose & ors, (1892) ILR 19 Cal 35
[2] Queen Empress vs Bal Gangadhar Tilak & Keshav Mahadev Pal, 1897 ILR BOM 112
[4] Tara Singh Gopi Chand vs The State, 1951 Cri LJ 449
[5] Sabir Raza vs State, 1962 AIR 1955
[6] Ram Nandan vs State of Uttar Pradesh, AIR 1959 ALL 101
[8] Kedar Nath vs State of Bihar, 1962 AIR 955
[9] Ibid