The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider a PIL for declaring penal provision of sedition as ultra vires of the Constitution, due to its chilling effect on freedom of speech and expression.
A bench presided over by Chief Justice S A Bobde rejected a plea filed jointly by three advocates Aditya Ranjan, Varun Thakur and V Elanchezhiyan. The court said the petitioners were not affected party, they should approach when cause of action arose.
The petitioners claimed that they were aggrieved of the blatant misuse of Section 124-A of the IPC and its chilling effect on freedom of speech and expression on the constitutional democracy.
They said the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Singh versus State of Bihar (1962) upheld validity of the provision by reading it down. However, six decades of experience showed that the judgement required reconsideration in the light to recent spate of incidents of sedition charges against those speaking out against the government of the day.
"It is essential to test the constitutionality of Section 124-A of the IPC on the touchstone of law developed in last six decades," their plea said adding several freedom fighters including Mahatma Gandhi and Lokmanya Tilak were subjected to this draconian law as constitutional principles were not available before 1950.
(Published 09 February 2021, 14:01 IST)
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