The Law Of Sedition Is Being Misused Against Those Who Criticise The Establishment: Prashant Bhushan

The country is facing an "institutional crisis" as institution after institution appear to collapse, said lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan today. He was speaking at the Nani Palkhiwala Memorial Lecture event at New Delhi. Justice (Rtd) Madan Lokur delivered the memorial lecture. He said that independence of institutions like CBI, CVC,RBI, Information Commission, Election Commission and CAG etc was being compromised."The spectacle of the CBI is for all to see. The Central Vigilance Commission is also manned by people facing serious charges. Almost half the posts in Information Commissions lie vacant and the remaining are largely filled by plaint bureaucrats. The independence of the Reserve bank of India is also threatened as is the independence of the CAG and the Election Commission with the government alone having the power to fill up posts to those offices", he said."The judiciary has also not been spared the assault by the government and faces numerous controversies today", he further said.He commented about increasing power of lynch-mobs, misuse of draconian laws of sedition and statues law UAPA and NSA to stifle dissent, rise in encounter killing etc."The law of sedition is being misused against those who criticise or lampoon the establishment and politicians in power. Draconian laws like UAPA and NSA are being used to imprison and prevent bail from being granted to dalit activists like Chandra Shekar from the Bhim Army or some of the most respected human rights activists and lawyers like Sudha Bharadwaj, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen, etc. Killing people from minority communities in the guise of encounters has become the order of the day, especially in Uttar Pradesh". He added that the mainstream media has also lost its independent values and has turned "discussion and debate into a gladiatorial spectacle of shouting voices".The only silver lining in media, according to him, is the growth of web based portals and social media, which have democratised media space.He stated that Shri Palkhivala would have been highly anguished and alarmed at the rapid decline of the state of our polity and its institutions."We need a herculean effort today to save and reclaim the republic founded by our Constitution makers. For this, we will have to reform and rebuild our institutions, we will have to get rid of several colonial, antiquated, anti democratic and anti people laws such as UAPA, NSA, sedition, criminal contempt, criminal defamation, etc. and equally importantly we will have to reform our policies to lay the foundations for a welfare state guaranteeing the right to employment, pension for the elderly and the disabled, decent health and education services for all", exhorted Bhushan.Yet, he did not wholly abandon hope, and said that the growth of civil society was reassuring."Despite the collapse of institutions and the dismal state of affairs, we are seeing a resurgence of civil society activism in the country. The number and diversity of human rights organisations have grown, there is a strong dalit movement with very capable young leaders. There is also a new youth leadership taking shape in the country. The spirit of resistance is strong and growing. Therefore, despite the distressing state of affairs in our country, this is not a time for despair", he said while concluding.Read Full Speech :Shri Nani Palkhivala was a towering stalwart in the legal firmament - an eminent jurist and economist, whom I had the privilege of watching when an attempt was made by the government and the then Chief Justice during the emergency, to overturn the Keshwanand Bharati case. It was Shri Palkhivala's brilliance that held the entire Supreme Court to attention in the Keshwanand Bharati case, where he made the court lay down that even a Constitutional amendment cannot be allowed to alter the basic structure of the Constitution. He thereafter wrote a book Our Constitution Defaced and Defiled, with extracts from his speeches and writings reflecting his commitment to public causes and where he also outlined various attempts to destroy the Constitution. The rule of law for Mr. Palkhivala therefore meant not merely law and order but rather the rule of the Constitution and in particular, a society where fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution are zealously protected and enforced. I read out as often quoted from his book and which will form the basis for my the remainder of my lecture,"Our Constitution is primarily shaped and moulded for the common man. It is a Constitution not meant for the ruler, but the ranker, the tramp on the road, the slave with a sack on his shoulders, picked on with the goad, the man with too weighty a burden, too weary a load." The fundamental rights guaranteed by our Constitution primarily by Articles 14, 19 and 21 have been expansively interpreted. Article 14 which guarantees non discrimination by the State has been interpreted to mean non arbitrary behaviour as well, by the State. Article...

The Law Of Sedition Is Being Misused Against Those Who Criticise The Establishment: Prashant Bhushan

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