"Sedition Law Most Abused Today, Criticism Against Govt In Power Does Not Make Any One Less Patriotic": Justice Deepak Gupta

Addressing the lawyers at a workshop organised by Praleen Public Charitable Trust at Ahmedabad, Justice Deepak Gupta of the Supreme Court spoke at length on the topic "Law of Sedition in India and Freedom of Expression".In his speech, Justice Gupta said dismally;"The art of conversation is itself dying down. There is no healthy discussion; there is no advocacy on principles and issues. There are only shouting and slanging matches. Unfortunately, the common refrain is either you agree with me or you are my enemy, or worse, an enemy of the nation, an anti-nationalist"."In a secular country, every belief does not have to be religious. Even atheists enjoy equal rights under our Constitution. Whether one is a believer, an agnostic or an atheist, one enjoys complete freedom of belief and conscience under our Constitution. There can be no impediments on the aforesaid rights except those permitted by the Constitution".He recognised the importance of right to disagree, stating that; "As long as a person does not break the law or encourage strife, he has a right to differ from every other citizen and those in power and propagate what he believes is his belief".He cited the dissenting judgment of Justice H. R. Khanna in A.D.M. Jabalpur v. Shivkant Shukla, (1976) 2 SCC 521, which ultimately turned out to be much more valuable than the majority opinion. "The right to dissent is one of the most important rights guaranteed by our Constitution. As long as a person does not break the law or encourage strife, he has a right to differ from every other citizen and those in power and propagate what he believes is his belief. The judgment of H. R. Khanna, J. in A.D.M. Jabalpur case, is a shining example of a dissent which is much more valuable than the opinion of the majority. This was a judgment delivered by a fearless, incorruptible Judge. Judges are administered oath wherein they swear or affirm to perform the duties to the best of their ability without fear or favour, affection or ill will. First and foremost part of the duty is to do one's duty without fear"."A very important aspect of a democracy is that the citizens should have no fear of the government. They should not be scared of expressing views which may not be liked by those in power. No doubt, the views must be expressed in a civilised manner without inciting violence but mere expression of such views cannot be a crime and should not be held against the citizens. The world would be a much better place to live, if people could express their opinions fearlessly without being scared of prosecutions or trolling on social media. It is indeed sad that one of our celebrities had to withdraw from social media because he and his family members were trolled or threatened of dire consequences"He apprised the crowd that the law of Sedition was introduced in India during the British rule, credibly to silence the voice of rebels. While they maintained that the provision was to curb people from inciting use of force, it was manifestly used to curb legitimate dissent or any demand for independenceIn fact, the word 'sedition' was attributed a very wide meaning in the case of Queen Empress v. Balgangadhar Tilak, ILR (1898) 22 Bom. 112. "Whether any disturbance or outbreak was caused by these articles, is absolutely immaterial. If the accused intended by the articles to excite rebellion or disturbance, his act would doubtless fall within section 124A", it was held therein.Disapproving this view he stated; "Mere criticism without incitement to violence would not amount to sedition". Recalling the words of Mahatma Gandhi, he quoted "Affection cannot be manufactured or regulated by law. If one has no affection for a person or system, one should be free to give the fullest expression to his disaffection, so long as he does not contemplate, promote or incite to violence".Justice Gupta went on to say that "You cannot force people to have affection for the Government and merely because people have disaffection or strongly disagree with the views of the Government or express their disagreement in strong words, no sedition is made out unless they or their words promote or incite or tend to promote or incite violence and endanger public order".He said that the founding fathers of the Constitution did not include sedition as an exception to the right to free speech under Article 19 of the Constitution, as they were that sedition could be an offence only if it led to or incited public disorder or violence. "Only incitement to violence or insurrection should be barred and, therefore, exceptions to Article 19 do not contain the word 'sedition' but security of State, public disorder or incitement to an offence", he added.In fact, in Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar, 1962 Supp 2 SCR 769, the Supreme Court had held that Sedition charges could not be leveled only for criticizing the Government or its ...

"Sedition Law Most Abused Today, Criticism Against Govt In Power Does Not Make Any One Less Patriotic": Justice Deepak Gupta

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