The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine the constitutional validity of the penal provision of sedition on a plea, contending that it clearly infringed upon the citizens' fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression.
A bench of Justices U U Lalit, Indira Banerjee and K M Joseph issued notice to the Union government on a joined petition filed by journalists Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha and another.
The petitioners, represented by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, submitted that the Supreme Court's judgment in Kedar Nath Singh Versus State of Bihar (1962), which upheld the validity of sedition, may require reconsideration.
The court, besides seeking the Centre's reply, also asked the petitioners to serve a copy on the office of the Attorney General.
It posted the matter for consideration on July 12.
The plea claimed Sedition as mentioned under Section 124-A of the India Penal Code, with a maximum sentence of life term, was unconstitutional and void for imposing unreasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution.
Wangkhemcha, who is a journalist from Manipur, has faced several FIRs since 2018 with a view to silencing him. He has remained in jail for 210 days and lost his job. A co-petitioner, Kanhaiya Lal Shukla is a cartoonist from Chandigarh.
The top court had in the Kedar Nath Singh case had then clarified that only those acts, which involved incitement to violence or violence, constituted a seditious act under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code.
(Published 01 May 2021, 00:59 IST)
JOIN US