SEDITION
As per section 124A of the Indian Penal Code 1860, any written or spoken word or any visible representation which intends to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite discontentment towards the concerned Government is subject to penalization.
Sedition is the most contentious and intense topic of the political and constitutional history, invoked to abstain political criticism and tranquil the vernacular press of the British India.
The independent India as well exercises the law of sedition in the most tendentious and vexed way and the law remains open for wide interpretations. Coming across powerful and influential politicians charge vociferous political critics and journalists with Sedition and then it is annexed to be the predominant piece in the news, critically challenging and disputing with the reputation of the emphatic speaker is the commonest of things in the daily mail.
The recent case of Vinod Dua that has been quashed by the Supreme Court and has laid down principles from the Landmark Sedition judgment of the Kedar Nath case of 1962 that should be contemplated and analyzed rationally by every citizen to judiciously differentiate between portrayal of discontent in the form of an opinion which comes under the ambit of free speech and expression under Article 19 of the Constitution and the actual act of sedition that excites masses to violently spread any kind of distress and lawlessness and spreads hatred against the Government disturbing the harmony of the state that is covered under section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code,1860.
BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE ACCUSATIONS AGAINST VINOD DUA
In a video released, Vinod Dua had criticized and denounced the Prime Minister and the Central Government for maladministration of the migrant crisis in 2020 with regard to the first wave that broke out.
BJP Leader Ajay Shyam filed Sedition case against the journalist and commented that his act and portrayal of opinion was intended to “instigate violence against the government and the prime minister by spreading fabricated information and malicious news.”
Section 124A that defines the act of Sedition punishes the act with imprisonment ranging from 3 years to a lifetime, a fine or both once proved.
With the Seditious charges being imposed on the Journalist by the BJP leader, the Himachal Pradesh Government was therein represented by Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta. The grounds of his argument in the Supreme Court were the journalist’s attempt to advance false information intending to spread panic and resentment against the government among the masses. He emphasized on his statements which mentioned ‘food riots post lockdown’ which had the potential of transmitting unprecedented panic and agitation.
THE COURT RULING ON THE SEDITION MATTER OF VINOD DUA
The Supreme court shielded the well-known journalist from arrest earlier, the case was quashed on 2nd of June 2021 by a two-judge bench comprising of Justice UU Lalit and Justice Vineet Saran.
The Supreme Court explicitly held that the remarks in the video made by Dua were a piece of opinion which were practiced under the Constitutional right ambit of right to free speech and expression, the comments were genuine and were constructive criticism and did not amount to Sedition.
Prayer of the Journalist
Vinod Dua in his prayer to the Apex Court appealed to the Hon’ble court to constitute a committee of Chief Justice of High Court or a Judge he deems fit be the most appropriate in his recommendation, the leader of the Opposition and the Home Minister of the state to examine and analyze the FIRs lodged under Section 124A, furthermore to prevent the misuse of the Sedition Law. He in addition added to his prayer that the persons associated with the media with a minimum of 10 years of standing should not be charged with Seditious offences unless the approval of the committee so constituted assents for the same.
APEX COURT’S SUBSTANTIVE REPLY TO THE PRAYER OF THE JOURNALIST
The Hon’ble court refused to give assent to the committee constitution as it shall amount to encroachment of the legislature’s domain. The Supreme Court further elaborated that every journalist shall be entitled to protection as stated in the Kedar Nath Judgment of 1962.
As every prosecution under Section 124A and 505 of the Indian Penal code must be in strict conformity with the with the scope and ambit of the sections mentioned above and completely in tune with the law laid down in the Kedar Nath Singh case.
PRINCIPLES STATED IN THE KEDAR NATH SINGH JUDGEMENT, 1962
The Constitutional validity of Sedition was upheld by the Apex court in the landmark judgment of 1962 in the Kedar Nath Singh case. The judgment furthermore strived to restrict its scope so as to curtail the possibility of misuse
The court explicitly held that criticism of the Government policies or the administration body if not accompanied by violence and public unrest cannot be labelled under the ambit of sedition.
Seven guidelines ruled out in the Kedar Nath Singh Judgment where sedition cannot be charged are detailed below:
BIFURCATION BETWEEN ‘THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED BY LAW’ AND ‘THE PERSONS FOR THE TIME BEING HANDLING THE ADMINISTRATION’
There has to be a clear bifurcation between the Government established by law and the persons in charge of the administration for the current tenure as the Government established by law is an explicit representation of the state. The existence of the state will be in jeopardy if the Government established by law is destabilized.
Acts included under the ambit of Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860
The acts that can be included under the ambit of Section 124-A and contain the effect of destabilizing a Government by bringing it into contempt and originating disaffection against it would be within the penal statute as it imports the concept of public unrest by the employment of lawlessness and violent activities.
The paramount criteria highlight the presence of violence and public disorder
The paramount criteria mentioned in the judgment is the presence of violence and public unrest which has been incited by the offender against whom sedition has been charged
RIGHT OF THE CITIZEN TO CONSTRUCTIVELY CRITICISE THE GOVERNMENT
A citizen has a right to criticize the government and its measures, by way of criticism or comment so long as he does not incite the feeling of public disorder and violence
AIM OF SECTION IS TO RENDER VIOLENT ACTIVITIES
The section and judgment mentioned makes it is reasonably explicit that sedition aims at rendering penal only such activities as would be intended or have a tendency to originate disorder or unrest of public peace or harmony by resort to violence pernicious tendency or intention of creating public disorder
It is only when the words written or spoken etc. which have the pernicious tendency of creating public unrest or disturbance of law and order that the law has to step in to prevent such activities in the interest of public disorder “we propose to limit its operation only to such activities as come within the ambit of the observations of the Federal Court, that is to say, activities involving incitement or tendency to create public disorder or cause disturbance of public peace.”
CONCLUSION
The objective of the judicial system has always been to educate the citizens between the act of Sedition involving penalization, reputation exterminating and the freedom and right of very citizen to manifest his critical opinion without instigating and spreading hatred that could result into public distress and lawlessness.