BREAKING| KEEP THE SEDITION LAW IN ABEYANCE: SUPREME COURT RULES IN A HISTORIC ORDER [Updated With Order]

In a historic development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered that the 152-year old sedition law under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code should be effectively kept in abeyance till the Union Government reconsiders the provision.In an interim order, the Court urged the Centre and the State governments to refrain from registering any FIRs under the said provision while it was under re-consideration. A bench comprising the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli held that all pending trials, appeals and proceedings with respect to charges framed under Section124 A be kept in abeyance. Adjudication with respect to other sections may proceed with no prejudice be caused to the accused, it held.The bench said in its order :"We hope and expect Centre and State Governments will refrain from registering any FIR, continuing investigation, or taking coercive steps under Section 124 A IPC when it is under reconsideration. It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further re-examination is over"The Court also held that those already booked under Section 124A IPC and are in jail can approach the concerned courts for bail. It has also been ruled that if any fresh case is registered appropriate parties are at liberty to approach courts for appropriate relief and courts are requested to examine the relief sought taking into account the order passed by the court.These directions will be in force until further orders.The directions issued by the Court are as follows :a. The interim stay granted in W.P.(Crl.)No.217/2021 along with W.P.(Crl.)No.216/2021 vide order dated 31.05.2021 shall continue to operate till further orders.b. We hope and expect that the State and Central Governments will restrain from registering any FIR, continuing any investigation or taking any coercive measures by invoking Section 124A of IPC while the aforesaid provision of law is under consideration.c. If any fresh case is registered under Section 124A of IPC, the affected parties are at liberty to approach the concerned Courts for appropriate relief. The Courts are requested to examine the reliefs sought, taking into account the present order passed as well as the clear stand taken by the Union of India.d.All pending trials, appeals and proceedings with respect to the charge framed under Section 124A of IPC be kept in abeyance. Adjudication with respect to other Sections, if any, could proceed if the Courts are of the opinion that no prejudice would be caused to the accused.e.In addition to the above, the Union of India shall be at liberty to issue the Directive as proposed and placed before us, to the State Governments/Union Territories to prevent any misuse of Section 124A of IPC.f. The above directions may continue till further orders are passedThe bench passed the order after observing that the Union Government's stand that the colonial provision requires "re-consideration and re-examination" means that the Government has agreed with the prima facie view expressed by the Court that the "rigours of 124A IPC isn't in tune with current social milieu and was intended for when the country was under colonial regime". Therefore, the Court ordered that the Union of India may reconsider the provision."The court is cognisant of the duty of the State on one hand and citizens' civil liberties on the other . There is a requirement of balance of consideration. The case of petitioner is that this provision of law dated back 1898 and is being misused. The Attorney General had also given instances of glaring misuse like cases registered for recital of hanuman chalisa", the CJI said while dictating the order."Therefore, we expect that, till the re-examination of the provision is complete, it will be appropriate not to continue the usage of the aforesaid provision of law by the Governments", the Court's order stated. Yesterday, the bench had agreed with the Centre's suggestion to defer the hearing of petitions till it reconsiders the provision if it could clarify how it planned to deal with the pending and future cases till the process was complete. The Court also suggested that the Centre issue directions to States to not register sedition cases till the review of Section 124A is complete and sought its response on the same.The main contention raised by the petitioner was if an adjournment was indeed granted, how the interests of people who are already booked under Section 124A can be protected and if future cases can be kept abeyance till reconsideration is over. The Solicitor General has been asked to get instructions on this.Today, when the matter was taken up, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta informed the Court that a proposed draft direction has been prepared to be issued by the Centre keeping in mind that a cognizable offence cannot be prevented from being registered. He added that once a cognizable offence was committed, it may not be proper to stay the effect of the provision either by the ...

BREAKING| KEEP THE SEDITION LAW IN ABEYANCE: SUPREME COURT RULES IN A HISTORIC ORDER [Updated With Order]

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