Sedition: India's Silencer Gun

Sedition is much a legacy of the colonial British as a legacy of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who brought the first amendment to the constitution of India, that too with retrospective effect, to solidify crime of sedition and nullify the Supreme Court judgment in Romesh Thapar v. State of Madras. Independent India has not seen more sedition charges being filed with the exception of 1975 public emergency as it has seen since 2014 starting with then serving Finance Minister to Government of India Arun Jaitley having been charged with sedition by a judicial magistrate. India has enough laws (Indian Penal Code and special laws) to deal with public disorder and security of the State. The vindictiveness of the State, the grudges of the offended nationalists, or actions of motivated political activists who invoke sedition clause at the drop of a hat to silence the opponents and critics, cannot be regulated. The time has come for India to repeal Section 124A of the IPC relating to sedition.

 This briefing report is published by the Rights and Risks Analysis Group (RRAG).