The Petition Was Filed Against The Sedition Law In Supreme Court
The petition was filed against the sedition law in Supreme Court. This is another petition against the sedition law, the Supreme Court will hear.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the petition of a former army officer challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law.
The petition claimed that the law exerts a “scary effect” on expression and places undue restrictions on the fundamental right to freedom of speech.
A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice AS Bopanna and Hrishikesh Rai directed the petitioner to hand over a copy of the petition to Attorney General KK Venugopal.
The petition, filed by Major-General (Retd) SG Wombatkere, contends that Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code relating to sedition is completely unconstitutional. It should be explicitly abolished.
The petition said that the contention of the petitioner was that a law criminalizing expression based on unconstitutionally vague definitions of dissent, etc.
It is an unreasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a). and causes a constitutionally unacceptable intimidating effect on speech.
The petition said that before looking at Section 124-A of the sedition, there is a need to move ahead of time and look into the evolution of the law.
Earlier, a separate bench of the apex court had sought the Centre’s response on the petitions of two journalists Kishorchandra Wangkhemcha (Manipur) and Kanhaiyalal Shukla (Chhattisgarh)
Both of them challenging the sedition law. This bench will hear the matter on July 27.
FMP sought intervention in the petition.
The FMP has filed a petition before the SC seeking its intervention in a petition challenging the constitutional validity of the offense of sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.
The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit and Justice Ajay Rastogi had already heard the main petition.
A notice was also issued to the Central Government for its response in this matter.
The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of the matter till July 27, as the central government and the Attorney General (AG) could not file their replies in the matter.
FMP’s lawyer Rahul Bhatia said that the federation wants to intervene in the matter.
The law of sedition is a colonial decree. Which was prepared not out of democratic instinct but to crush the freedom movement.
