Sedition A weapon of government not a law

Sedition a law made to stop the rumors and wrongful about a government the act provided for
further and expanded limitations on speech.
But now the government not only change the meaning of sedition but also misused this law
against the citizens and used as a tool to suppress free speech in order to make the public
quietly abide by whatever the Government says.
And especially the expression of discontent by the youth is often labeled as sedition.

Explanation 2 and 3 of 124A of IPC clearly says about what cannot be included in sedition. They
say that comments which express a person’s disapprobation i.e. disapproval or dislike of the
measures or actions of the Government of India are not considered sedition.
As Article 19(a) of Indian constitution say ‘Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression’,
indicating that criticism of the state and its policies by the people is a fundamental part of a
democracy and therefore, it cannot be snatched away.
However, criticism of the state is a part of the very essence of democracy, which has been
emphasized by the courts too.

The landmark case of Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar (1962) gives a detailed knowledge
about sedition law and also about ingredients, essential, and what considered as sedition and
what not.

In Tara Singh Gopi Chand v. the State (1951)

The Judgement of High Court is that, that he agreed with the claim of Constitutional invalidity of
Section 124A, and that it was a violation of the ‘Fundamental Right to Freedom of Speech and
Expression’. It struck down this provision and at the same time, quashed the proceedings
against Tara Singh.

And in 1959 The Allahabad Court passed a similar ruling in the case of Ram Nandan v. State
(1959), where Section 124A was declared ultra vires of the Constitution.

The sedition is nothing but just a Vague law: The law is vague, because it contains terms like
“disaffection”. It is not clear what can or cannot be classified as disaffection in various situations.
This means that the law can be interpreted differently as per the whims and interests of the
government. In recent years, the law has sometimes been used to persecute political dissent

Some of the most recent examples

1. Vinod Dua V. Union of India in this case Supreme Court Quashes Sedition Case
Against Vinod Dua, Says Every Journalist Entitled to Protection.
a Journalist who perform its duty as the fourth pillar of democracy still face false allegation of
sedition.
2. Sharjeel Imam case
Sharjeel Imam is an Indian activist and JNU scholar was arrested in Jamia Millia Islamia on
December 13, 2019 on the name of sedition, giving speeches during the anti-CAA/NRC
protests.

3. Nafisa Atari a teacher in Rajasthan

A case under Section 153 and 124 of the Indian Penal Code was filed against her as she
posted a pro-Pakistan WhatsApp story after India got defeated in the Indo-Pak T20 World Cup
match on October 25. In the post, Atari had shared an image of Pakistani players with the text,
“Jeet gaye, we won”.

4. Manipur student activist Veewon Thokchom for a social media post on the Citizenship
Amendment Act, 2019, got arrested.

5. BJP Lakshadweep unit president Abdul Khader filed a complaint against Aisha Sultana,
a filmmaker, and police promptly booked a sedition case. Reason? She said the Union
Territory is witnessing hundreds of COVID infections every day because of the
administrator’s actions.

All these example and cases which do not consits any kind of hatred, disaffection, public
disorder, violence, disloyalty but still face the allegation of sedition by the government.

The website Article 14 recently tracked sedition cases filed between January 1, 2010, and
December 31, 2020. It found that 96 per cent of the cases filed against 405 Indians for criticising
political leaders and governments over the last decade were registered after the year 2014.

Across the globe, many democratic countries have in the past either eased or completely
removed their sedition laws. Like United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Canada,
Ghana,Singapore,Scotland, South Korea, Nigeria and Uganda, have held sedition law as
undemocratic, undesirable and unnecessary.

While questioning the continuity of the “colonial-era” sedition law on 15 July 2022, Chief Justice
N.V. Ramana expressed his concern over its misuse. He said, “The use of sedition is like giving
a saw to the carpenter to cut a piece of wood and he uses it to cut the entire forest itself.”
Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana’s remarks in open court sends a strong message to the
government that the Supreme Court is prima facie convinced that sedition is being misused by
the authorities to trample upon citizens’ fundamental rights of free speech and liberty.

Once Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said that anti-sedition law held no place in free India.

Now,
All these data and fact shows the misuse of sedition by government and to deal with the
Supreme Court as well as the views of the Government on this law, it seems that this section is
unlikely to be scrapped soon.