They will bring it to Parliament, put some twist and pass it: Mahua Moitra on Centre re-examining sedition law

Firebrand Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, one of the petitioners who wanted the sedition law to be scrapped called the government's u-turn to re-examine the colonial-era rule "a ploy to buy time".

"This is partly the same thing they did with the marital rape issue in Delhi High Court. The (sedition) law has been there was 150 years. They have been in power for over seven years. If they wanted to do something, they could... it is that now they realise there is an actual possibility of this (law) being examined by a larger bench... so they do this to buy time," she told NDTV.

Lauding the Supreme Court Bench, she said that it has been "encouraging" to hear that the SC is inlined to hear it, whether for or against it.

Read | A look at sedition cases in India through the years

She also added that the last seven or ten years have clearly indicated how the law can be misused and that a three-judge bench cannot look at it, it needs to be referred to a larger bench.

Asked if she will welcome the government's scrapping of the law, Moitra replied "You tell me, do you have any faith that they will do it? They have slapped this on everyone from comedians to journalists and nobody has faced it more than you guys (journalists). Do you have faith in that because I don't?"

"They will bring it back to Parliament and put some twist on it and say and do something to it and say we want reasonable restrictions and these are the restrictions. They have a majority in the Parliament and they will pass it."

The government told the Supreme Court on Monday not to invest time in examining the validity of the sedition law as it has decided to go for reconsideration of the provisions by a "competent forum".

Centre told the Supreme Court that it has decided to re-examine and re-consider the sedition law in the spirit of 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and the Prime Minister's "unequivocal views" in favour of protection of civil liberties and to shed colonial baggage.

The Centre also said it was cognizant of various views and concerns about civil liberties while being committed to protecting the “sovereignty and integrity of this great nation”.