Can sedition cases be kept in abeyance, Supreme Court asks Centre

New Delhi, May 10: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to inform it by Wednesday whether the registration of future sedition cases can be kept in abeyance till it completes the reconsideration process with respect to the sedition law.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli also asked the Centre what it proposes to do about pending and future sedition cases as the Centre decided to re-examine the validity of Section 124A of the IPC, which criminalises the offence of sedition. Also Read | India logs 2,288 new Covid-19 cases, daily tally drops below 3,000-mark Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre said he would discuss it with the government and suggested that there could be guidelines on the issue until the government reconsidered the issue. The Bench posted the matter for hearing on Wednesday. The court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law. In a fresh affidavit, the Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that it had decided to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of Section 124A and requested it not to take up the case till the matter was examined by the government. At the outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the law requires reconsideration at the level of the executive because sovereignty and integrity of the nation are involved and sought deferment of the hearing of pleas. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitioners, opposed the Centre's request saying that the court should proceed to decide the validity irrespective of whether the government is examining the provision or not. During the hearing, as the Bench asked the Solicitor General how much time the government would take to complete the exercise, he replied that reconsideration of the law was in the process. "I wouldn't be able to give an accurate time frame. The process has started. The court must have seen the tenor and spirit of the affidavit," the Solicitor General said. Sibal said the Centre wanted to reconsider the sedition law, but in the meantime, people were getting arrested under the law. The Bench also highlighted the misuse of the sedition law and asked why the Centre doesn't direct the state governments that matter under 124A to be kept in abeyance till the Centre finishes the process of reconsideration. "In the affidavit itself it is said that misuse of law is there, how will you address this?" asked the Bench. CJI Ramana told Mehta, "There are concerns that this is being misused. Attorney General himself had said chanting Hanuman Chalisa is leading to such cases." Also read | BJP's Tajinder Bagga gets HC relief; arrest stayed till July 5 To this, the Solicitor General replied that the filing of FIRs is by the state governments and the first limb of 124A is to protect the sovereignty and integrity of the nation. During the hearing, Sibal told the Bench that then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had termed Section 124A as the most obnoxious provision aimed at stifling dissent and Mahatma Gandhi had termed this as the most potent weapon to silence opposition to the government. -PTC News