SC gives more time to A-G, Centre to reply on plea against Constitutional validity of sedition

The Supreme Court on Monday gave two more weeks to the Centre and the Attorney General to file a reply to a plea, questioning the validity of penal provision of sedition for infringing upon the citizens' right to free speech.

A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Ajay Rastogi posted a joint petition filed by journalists Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha and another, for consideration on July 27 as Attorney General K K Venugopal and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought time to file their response.

The top court had on April 30 issued notice to the Union government in the matter.

The petitioners claimed that the Supreme Court's judgement in Kedar Nath Singh Versus State of Bihar (1962), which upheld the validity of sedition provision in IPC, may require reconsideration.

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 silence 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.