TIME TO DEFINE WHAT IS AND ISN’T SEDITION, SAYS TOP COURT

Concerned over the misuse of India’s sedition law, the Supreme Court on Monday said that it will define the contours of the colonial era penal provision to indicate what does and does not constitute sedition.

“Everything cannot be seditious. It is time we define what is sedition and what is not,” said a bench headed by justice Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud as it restrained the Andhra Pradesh government from taking adverse action against two Telugu news channels booked under Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“We are of the view that the ambit and parameters of the provisions of Sections 124A, 153A (promoting enmity between classes) and 505 (statements creating or promoting enmity) of the IPC would require interpretation, particularly in the context of the right of the electronic and print media to communicate news, information and the rights, even those that may be critical of the prevailing regime in any part of the nation,” said the court in its order.

News channels TV5 and ABN Andhrajyothi have been named accused, along with rebel YSR Congress member of Parliament Raghurama Krishnam Raju, for aiding him in an alleged hate speech to promote disaffection against the government and commit seditious activities.

The bench, which included justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat, went through the transcripts of the speech given by Raju, who was granted bail by a different bench of the Supreme Court on May 21.

“Is this seditious? This (FIR) is nothing but muzzling the media,” remarked the bench, as senior counsel Shyam Divan, appearing for TV5, read out Raju’s speech.