Know- what is the sedition law and the historic verdict of Kedarnath Singh Vs Bihar

Spread the love

India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru advocated the removal of Section 124A of the IPC several times. But in 1962, the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict on sedition.

The first thing in this article is about Section 124A of the IPC. This section means sedition i.e. sedition. If anyone tries to spread hatred against the Government of India through his speech or article or in other ways, he can be imprisoned for up to three years. In some cases, this punishment can extend to life imprisonment. It is important to make it clear here that the Government of India means the government formed by constitutional means and not the party or leader in power.

While making the Constitution of India, some members of the Constituent Assembly had raised questions on this law of the British era. It was considered against the fundamental right to freedom of expression. But at that time the Constituent Assembly did not consider it right to leave the right of expression completely open. The makers of the constitution fixed the limits of this right under Article 19(2). Under this, statements that harm the sovereignty of India were not considered part of the fundamental right. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, later advocated the removal of Section 124A of the IPC several times. Told it my personal opinion.

In 1962, the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict

In 1962, the Supreme Court gave a historic verdict on sedition. In the Kedarnath Singh vs Bihar case, the Supreme Court, however, upheld this section. Declaring it unconstitutional and refused to cancel it. But the limit of this section has been fixed. The court made it clear that merely criticizing the government cannot be treated as sedition. In a case where the purpose of any speech or article is to directly incite violence against the government or the country, it can be considered as an offense under this section. Later in 1995, in the Balwant Singh case, the Supreme Court had also released those who raised pro-Khalistan slogans on the ground that they had raised only slogans.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *