The decision comes as a welcome surprise considering that the Law Commission had only two months prior recommended the retention of Section 124A (sedition) of the IPC and an increase in the penalty for the violation.
Source: The Economic Times
The Supreme Court had placed the sedition statute on hold, pending an investigation, in May of last year, citing its abuse and the ensuing chilling effect.
The sedition legislation was introduced in 1870 after being absent from the Lord Macaulay-written original IPC, which went into effect in 1862. After its scope was enlarged in 1898, it was heavily employed to put an end to the liberation fight. Section 124A of the IPC had been found unconstitutional by the Punjab High Court in Tara Singh Gopi Chand v.
The State (1951), but the Supreme Court reaffirmed its legality in Kedarnath Singh (1962), although limiting its application. However, the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, 2023, which will replace the IPC, seeks to incorporate a clause that punishes ‘acts jeopardising sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India’ with life imprisonment or imprisonment up to seven years and a fine.
Source: Times Now
One hopes it isn’t a renamed version of the sedition legislation. Eliminating this legislation is not a stand-alone action. Twenty years after the Justice VS Malimath Committee on Reforms of Criminal Justice System gave its recommendations to the Home Ministry, the government is overhauling the criminal justice system. Procedural laws can be altered in many different ways. However, the government must exercise caution while updating the actual criminal code.
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