{"id":56793,"date":"2020-03-06T16:31:31","date_gmt":"2020-03-06T11:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogadmin.forumias.com\/?page_id=56793"},"modified":"2020-03-06T16:31:33","modified_gmt":"2020-03-06T11:01:33","slug":"answered-data-from-the-national-crime-records-bureau-ncrb-show-that-the-number-of-sedition-cases-filed-has-gone-up-every-year-in-the-last-four-years-only-four-cases-actually-resulted-in-convictio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-data-from-the-national-crime-records-bureau-ncrb-show-that-the-number-of-sedition-cases-filed-has-gone-up-every-year-in-the-last-four-years-only-four-cases-actually-resulted-in-convictio\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that the number of sedition cases filed has gone up every year in the last four years, only four cases actually resulted in conviction. In light of this, discuss the usefulness of the sedition law."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n Demand of the question<\/strong>\n Introduction.\n <\/strong>Contextual introduction.\n Body.\n <\/strong>Discuss usefulness and misuse of sedition law. \n Conclusion.\n <\/strong>Way forward.\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sedition is an offence incorporated into\nthe Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1870. Section 124A of the IPC defines says\nwhoever by words either spoken or written attempts to bring into hatred or\ncontempt or excites disaffection towards the government established by law, has\ncommitted the offence of sedition. The offence is punishable with imprisonment\nfor life and is turned out to be a tool by politicians many times to prevent\ncriticism against them jeopardising free speech and dissent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Usefulness\nof Sedition law:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Misuse of freedom of speech:<\/strong> Freedom of\nspeech although is protected through Article 19 (1) but it is not unlimited.\nSometimes speech is used as a tool to destabilise country polity and to promote\nenmity in the society. Thus sedition law is useful in preventing this misuse. <\/li>
  2. Internal security:<\/strong> Maoist insurgency and\nrebel groups virtually run a parallel administration, it would be dangerous to\nabolish it. These groups openly advocate the overthrow of the state government\nby revolution. Thus keeping section 124A is important for Indian security.<\/li>
  3. Combating anti-national elements<\/strong>:\nSection 124A of the IPC has its utility in combating anti-national,\nsecessionist and terrorist elements.<\/li>
  4. Political stability: <\/strong>It protects the\nelected government from attempts to overthrow the government with violence and\nillegal means. The continued existence of the government established by law is\nan essential condition of the stability of the State.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Sedition\nLaw as an oppressive mechanism:<\/strong> The Sedition cases\nhave been increasing over the years as in 2014, there were 47 cases of sedition\nbut that number has increased to 70 in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Improper definition:<\/strong> As pointed out by the Law Commission of India, is that the definition of\nsedition does not take into consideration disaffection towards the\nConstitution, the legislatures, and administration of justice, all of which\nwould be as disastrous to the security of the State.<\/li>
    2. Against freedom of speech:<\/strong> Section\n124A has been invoked against activists, detractors, writers and even\ncartoonists on several occasions to suppress their freedom of speech and\nexpression. Article 19 (1) of Indian constitution provides freedom of speech as\na fundamental right. Section 124A is against Article 19 (1).<\/li>
    3. Prevent criticism: <\/strong>A foremost objection\nis a strong criticism against government policies and personalities, slogans\nand stinging depictions of an unresponsive or insensitive regime are all likely\nto be treated as \u2018seditious\u2019.<\/li>
    4. Colonial tool: <\/strong>It was introduced by\nthe British to suppress the freedom struggle and its existence at present is\nnot justified. Britain itself abolished it 10 years ago, then why India still\nhas the section alive.<\/li>
    5. Inconsistent with international conventions: <\/strong>India ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political\nRights (ICCPR) and misuse of sedition law under Section 124A and the arbitrary\nslapping of charges are inconsistent with the ICCPR.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Supreme\nCourt Judgements on Sedition:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. Kedar Nath Singh v State of Bihar, 1962: <\/strong>The Supreme Court has upheld the\nconstitutionality of Section 124-A (sedition). However, it said that every\ncitizen has a right to say or write about the government by way of criticism or\ncomment as long as it does not incite people to violence against the government\nestablished by law or with the intention of creating public disorder.<\/li>
      2. P.Alavi vs State of Kerala, 1982: <\/strong>The Supreme Court held that sloganeering,\ncriticising of Parliament or judicial setup does not amount to sedition.<\/li>
      3. Balwant Singh v State of Punjab, 1995: <\/strong>The Supreme Court acquitted persons from charges\nof sedition for shouting slogans such as \u2018Khalistan Zindabad\u2019. The court held\nthat mere raising of slogans by two individuals alone cannot be said to be\naimed at exciting or attempt to excite hatred or disaffection by the\ngovernment.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        The Supreme Court has persistently held\nthat for the offence of sedition to be satisfied, there has to be a causal\nrelationship between speech and acts of violence, and mere speech, regardless\nof how subversive it is, does not amount to sedition. Every irresponsible\nexercise of the right to free speech and expression cannot be termed seditious.\nWhile it is essential to protect national integrity, it should not be misused\nas a tool to curb free speech.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Demand of the question Introduction. Contextual introduction. Body. Discuss usefulness and misuse of sedition law. Conclusion. Way forward. Sedition is an offence incorporated into the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1870. Section 124A of the IPC defines says whoever by words either spoken or written attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites disaffection… Continue reading [Answered] Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that the number of sedition cases filed has gone up every year in the last four years, only four cases actually resulted in conviction. In light of this, discuss the usefulness of the sedition law.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-56793","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/56793\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}