In 16 months, apex court has put two central laws on hold

NEW DELHI: In about sixteen months, the penal provision of sedition became the second central government law to be put on hold by the Supreme Court, pending a final adjudication.

On January 12, 2021, the top court stayed the three contentious farm laws that had brought tens of thousands of protesting farmers to Delhi’s doorstep.

A three-judge bench, headed by then Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde, held that suspension of the legislation “may assuage the hurt feelings of the farmers and encourage them to come to the negotiating table with confidence and good faith”.

The court, at that time, also formed a four-member committee to discuss the legislation with both farmers and the government and make recommendations to it, and hoped that the stay order will be perceived by the farmers as an “achievement, prompting them “to get back to their livelihood”.

The committee submitted its report to the Supreme Court two months after it was constituted but the document kept gathering dust since the bunch of cases were not listed for a hearing.

In November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the government has decided to repeal the three farm laws. Announcing the decision of not going ahead with the law, the Prime Minister assured the country that the government was not against farmers.

While the judicial course of the farm laws effectively ended with the PM’s announcement, Modi’s apparent approval to a review of the sedition law set off an interim order on suspension of the colonial-era legislation.

When the Union government submitted its affidavit in the court on Monday to communicate its decision to “re-examine and reconsider” Section 124A, the three-page document highlighted the PM’s impetus on protection of civil liberties and the need to shed “colonial baggage”.

The government underlined that Modi “has been cognisant of various views expressed on the subject and has also periodically, in various forums, expressed his clear and unequivocal views in favour of protection of civil liberties, respect for human rights, and giving meaning to the constitutionally cherished freedoms by the people of the country”.

The PM, said the Centre, has repeatedly said that one of India’s strengths is the diverse thought streams that beautifully flourish in our country.