SEDITION

By Prajanya Raj Rathore 8 Minutes Read

Meaning of the term ‘Sedition’-

It is a form of speech which is delivered in order to develop the feeling of resentment against the government. ^[1]

Definition of the term ‘Sedition’-

Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860^[2]– Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government estab­lished by law in India, shall be punished with im­prisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with impris­onment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

The Law Commission viewpoint on ‘Sedition’^[3]–

• In the year 2018 the Law Commission of India published a consultation paper which recommends the need to reconsider the validity of sedition.
• In its 39^th report the commission the idea of repealing sedition was rejected
• In its 42nd Report (1971), the panel wanted the scope of the section to be extended to cover the Constitution, the lawmaking body and the legal executive, notwithstanding the legislature to be set up by law, as establishments against which ‘estrangement’ ought not to go on without serious consequences.
• In the recent report, the commission suggested invoking sedition on to the extent where the person is inciting violence against the government.

Use (Cases) in Indian Judiciary^[4]–

1. Binayak Sen’s case- Dr. Binayak Sen was charged for sedition, in addition to other things, for purportedly supporting Naxalites, and condemned to life detainment at the Session Court in Raipur. He was blamed for helping agitators, who were dynamic in the district at that point; by passing notes from a Maoist detainee that was his patient to somebody outside the prison. Denying all charges against him, Dr. Sen expressed he was under the consistent management of jail authorities during his medicines so such an activity would not be conceivable. It was his analysis of the killings submitted by a vigilante bunch that incited his capture and ensuing allegations. Salwa Judum is the gathering he’s alluding to, planned and bolstered by the state legislature of Chhattisgarh to control the uprising in the towns of indigenous clans where it flourished, as indicated by them. In any case, Dr. Sen, who’s a human-rights dissident separated from being a paediatrician, asserts that the gatherings provide genuine employment to clear townland that is wealthy in iron metal, bauxite and precious stones for it to be quarried.

His capture increased a great deal of international consideration, and the U.S.- based Global Health Council granted Dr. Sen its 2008 Jonathan Mann Award for worldwide wellbeing and human rights in acknowledgement of his administrations to poor and indigenous networks in India. In May soon thereafter, 22 Nobel laureates sent a letter to the Indian government reprimanding the imprisonment and asking that he be discharged to get the honour face to face. “We likewise wish to communicate grave worry that Dr. Sen gives off an impression of being imprisoned exclusively for calmly practising his basic human rights… and that he is charged under two interior security laws that don’t comport with worldwide human rights guidelines,” they said in the letter.

2. Aseem Trivedi’s case- Dubious political visual artist and activist, Aseem Trivedi, most popular for his enemy of defilement battle, Cartoons Against Corruption, was captured on charges of sedition, in 2010. The objection, documented by Amit Katarnayea who is a lawful consultant for a Mumbai-based NGO, censures Trivedi’s presentation of ‘annoying and censorious’ portrays, that delineated the Parliament as a chest and the National Emblem in a negative way having supplanted the lions with crazy wolves, during an Anna Hazare challenge defilement, just as posting them on a person to person communication locales.

As announced by India Today, individuals from India Against Corruption (IAC) asserted that the cases were foisted on Trivedi by the legislature, as the administration was irate with their enemy of the debasement campaign. Mayank Gandhi of the IAC stated, “The case has been enlisted just in light of the fact that Aseem had taken part in the BKC fight composed by Anna Hazare and had raised his voice against defilement. So the administration is attempting to leave his dissent as such.” Trivedi’s case truly addressed the right to speak freely and articulate in the nation we a youngster got captured for satirizing obvious debasement in the nation. It’s satisfactory that some may discover his animation hostile and off colour, yet condemning an individual to live in jail for such a demonstration is excessively extraordinary.

Origin of the term ‘Sedition’-

The word ‘sedition’ finds its root in the French literature, the word ‘sedition’ is taken from the French word ‘Sedicion‘ which translates into rebellion, uprising, revolt, concerted attempt to overthrow civil authority; violent strife between factions, civil or religious disorder, riot; rebelliousness against authority.^[5]

[1] Cambridge Dictionary, Definition of  Sedition, Source Link, Cambridge Dictionary, 15/06/2020, 1:00am
[2]Section 124A , Indian Penal Code, 1860
[3] Clear IAS.com, use and misuse sedition law, India Today, Source Link, 15/06/2020, 2:00am
[4] Sara H., 5 Landmark Cases That Changed The Way We Look At India’s Sedition Law, Home Grown, Source Link, 15/06/2020, 2:30am see also:  Source Link.
[5] Etymology dictionary online, origin of term Sedition, Source Link, 15/06/2020, 3:00am

Prajanya Raj Rathore

Just an average guy, who is here to learn and explore new things. With interest in Technology law, Media law, telecommunications law, Criminal law and Environmental law.