Congress slams Law commission's recommendation to increase jail term in sedition cases

Congress on Friday objected to Law Commission's recommendation of making sedition law more stringent, claiming it is a "terrible, tragic and treacherous" development aimed at creating a "fear psychosis" ahead of Lok Sabha elections next year and targeting Opposition leaders.

Senior lawyer and party MP Abhishek Singhvi said the ruling BJP through its instruments and agencies is clearly using or intending to use sedition as a tool for "subversion, subjugation and silencing dissent", as it plans to make it more "draconian, drastic, and deadly than it was during the colonial regime".

The Law Commission has submitted a report to the government on sedition law in which it has said that repealing it altogether can have serious adverse ramifications for the security and integrity of the country, amid a section of activists and experts claiming that certain recommendations made the IPC provision more draconian. Government will study the report and take a call accordingly.

Also Read | Increase jail term in sedition cases to 7 years: Law commission recommendation

Addressing a press conference, Singhvi said the intent is to send a signal to the Opposition. He said the recommendations result in making the existing sedition law "far more draconian, invasive and prejudicial" by enhancing the lower end of the punishment from three to seven years.

The Rajya Sabha MP said the recommendation "ignores the letter and more importantly the spirit" of the Supreme Court proceedings in May and October last year, which made Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) "inoperative and clearly intended it to be repealed/ rendered deal later".

Singhvi also said it sent a clear signal that it is retaining its colonial mindset so as to perpetuate a looming threat to freedom of speech, thought, and action while obliquely declaring its clear intent to continue its "selective and partisan misuse" of this law against political dissent.

Citing statistics that there has been an annual rise of 28 per cent in sedition cases for the period between 2014 and 2020, compared to the yearly average between 2010 and 2014, with 559 cases being filed during this period, Singhvi asked, "why have the cases of sedition exploded during the BJP regime? Is the government misusing it as a tool to curb criticism? Is this an initial step towards creating a fear psychosis before the elections and bringing more stringent curbing of dissent ahead of the upcoming General Elections?"