Will review sedition law provisions: Centre to SC

NEW DELHI: The 152-year-old colonial law on sedition in India is set to be reviewed, the Union government informed the Supreme Court on Monday while imploring the court to suspend the ongoing judicial scrutiny of the penal provision till the government takes a call on the issue.

“The government of India, being fully cognisant of various views being expressed on the subject of sedition and also having considered the concerns of civil liberties and human rights, while committed to maintain and protect the sovereignty and integrity of this great nation, has decided to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code, which can only be done before the competent forum,” stated the affidavit filed through the Union home ministry.

The latest three-page affidavit curiously followed another document submitted by the central government in the top court less than 48 hours ago, in which the government defended the penal provision of sedition.

In its written submissions filed on Saturday evening, the Union government leaned on a six-decade-old Constitution bench judgment to assert that Section 124A is a valid law and that there are enough safeguards in place to balance the constitutional rights of the citizens and the needs of the State.