SEDITION

Petty crimes, sedition, mob lynching & more: How India's new bill seeks to deal with crime

Three bills of momentous significance with a thrust on 'justice instead of punishment' were introduced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the Lok Sabha. The key provisions of the legislation include repealing sedition, a new penal code against mob lynching, death for rape of minors and first-time community service as one of the punishments for petty offences

701 sedition, 5023 UAPA cases registered in 2018-22: Govt to LS

The minister said during this period, 788 people were arrested and charge sheet was filed against 500 in sedition and offences against state cases. A total of 131 people were acquitted too. He said under the UAPA, 8,947 people were arrested and 6,503 people named in charge sheets. A total of 550 people were acquitted too.

Hong Kong court rejects bid to drop sedition charge against pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai

A Hong Kong court rejected a bid to drop sedition charges against pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai. The founder of the now-shuttered newspaper Apple Daily, Lai faces charges related to the publication of seditious articles. His lawyer argued that the charge should be dismissed due to a missed deadline, but the court ruled that a time limit did not apply.

Case on sedition charge registered against Sanjay Raut for article against PM Modi in 'Saamana'

The case was registered on Monday at Umarkhed police station against Sanjay Raut under IPC sections 124 (A) (sedition), 153 (A) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes), a senior official said.

Over 75 per cent UAPA cases in 2022 from J-K, Manipur, Assam, UP; Bengal had 25 pc sedition cases: NCRB

Notably, sedition cases have come down since 2020 while those lodged under the UAPA saw a rise in the last three years, according to the data. In 2021, 76 cases of sedition and 814 cases of UAPA were lodged in the country, while in 2020 the figures for the same were logged at 73 and 796, official data from corresponding years showed.

Constitution bench of ‘at least’ five Supreme Court judges will examine Section 124A validity

Declining the request made by both attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta, the CJI observed that Section 124A continues to be in the statute book and the “new law in a penal statute will have only prospective and not retrospective effect”.

Sedition law: SC to examine validity of Section 124A despite Centre's objection

SC to hear on Sep 12 pleas challenging validity of colonial-era sedition law

The law on sedition, which provides for a maximum jail term of life under section 124A of the IPC for creating "disaffection towards the government", was brought into the penal code in 1890, a full 57 years before Independence and almost 30 years after the IPC came into being.

Sedition by another name equally shady

That is excellent reasoning for a liberal democracy. Yet, the ghost of Section 124A of IPC 1860 - sedition - lingers in Section 150 of the BNS Bill. The intent of the two provisions is very different. Section 124A of IPC intends to suppress free speech. Section 150, on the other hand, of the BNS Bill is focused on national security, and attempts to balance individual liberty and national security. Part 7, 'Of Offences Against the State', in this section criminalises acts perceived to be endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India.

'Sedition law repealed to save honeytrapped DRDO scientist?': MP Sanjay Raut asks HM Amit Shah

Government proposes to abolish sedition law

A new section, separately, deals with the crime of mob lynching and has been incorporated in the BNS bill, with death penalty as the maximum punishment. Earlier, this offence was being dealt under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

Provision of sedition offences to be completely repealed: Amit Shah in Lok Sabha

Home Minister Amit Shah told the Lok Sabha that the provision of sedition offences will be completely repealed in the new bill replacing IPC. Shah has introduced three bills in the Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act, which are British-era laws.

Sedition law to be repealed, but provisions of punishment for endangering unity of India: Amit Shah

Assam Rifles files sedition case against Manipur civil society group

The Assam Rifles has filed charges of sedition and defamation against the head of the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI), a notable civil society group in the capital, for advising people to “refuse” to surrender their weapons. A police officer confirmed that the FIR had been lodged on 10 July against COCOMI’s convener, Jitendra Ningomba. The group had demanded on 4 June that the Assam Rifles be replaced by a different police force, arguing that local youths refused to surrender their weapons.

Situation from Kashmir to Kerala makes it must to retain sedition law: Law panel chief

While the government said it will take an "informed and reasoned" decision on the Law Commission report after consulting all stakeholders and that the recommendations were "persuasive" but not binding, the Congress has alleged that the government wants to make the sedition law more "draconian".

Govt will take 'informed and reasoned' decision on sedition law after consultations: Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal

"The law commission report on Sedition is one of the steps in the extensive consultative process. The recommendations made in the report are persuasive and not binding," Meghwal said on Twitter. He said the final decision on the matter will be taken only after consulting all the stakeholders."Now that we have received the report, we will also hold consultations with all the other stakeholders so that we take an informed and reasoned decision in the public interest," Meghwal said.

Doctor prescribing cure that is worse than disease: Chidambaram on Law Commission's recommendations on sedition law

With the law commission backing the sedition law, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday said the panel's recommendation is a case of the "doctor prescribing a cure that is worse than the disease". The former home minister said a draconian law in the statute book is an invitation to the rulers to misuse it and this hypothesis has been proved many times over.

Mind your tendency! Law panel says retain Sedition Law; suggests 7-year jail or life

Not only the Law Commission has proposed enhancement of punishment from existing three years to seven years, it has proposed a significant amendment about "tendency" which means "mere inclination to incite violence or cause public disorder rather than proof of actual violence or imminent threat to violence".

Law Commission bats for sedition law, says don't repeal, just put in place some safeguards

Amid continuous allegations of rampant misuse, there have been demands from various quarters in India that the provision be repealed like certain countries have done. According to the commission, though, a repeal would be akin to turning a blind eye to the current ground realities that exist in India.

Sedition law should be retained, needs to be more stringent, opines Law Commission

'Pakistan military plans to keep me in jail for 10 years,' alleges Imran Khan

Revised sedition law may be tabled in Parliament's Monsoon Session: Government to SC

India's Centre informed the Supreme Court that it is at an advanced stage in the process to re-examine IPC's Section 124-A, which criminalises sedition. Attorney General R Venkataramani told the bench that consultations were in progress to modify the 152-year-old law and that the government was keen on tabling the revised law in the next monsoon session of Parliament. The case has been deferred to the second week of August to weigh over the submission.

Govt at advanced consultation stage on reexamining sedition law: Centre tells SC