Sedition Case in the Supreme Court: The Hoax(?) of Review Promise

[Sukla Sen]

Evidently, the lofty(!!!) promise for reconsideration is only a trick to effectively kill the petition and, at the very least, get the present bench changed.

Good that the Court has made bold to underline two very obvious and, also, most salient issues:  

I. What happens to the current cases?

II. What happens in the interim?

One can only hope that the Court won't relent.

<<We will definitely take into consideration that you are doing a serious exercise of reconsideration of the law. We should not appear unreasonable… But there are concerns. One is about cases which are already pending. The other is the future misuse of Section 124A during the reconsideration. The Attorney-General has himself said there is abuse… How are you going to protect the interests of the people from this abuse while the reconsideration exercise is on,” Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana asked Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre.

At one point, the court said the reconsideration process could not be an open-ended one. “How long will you take for the ‘reconsideration’ of the law,” Chief Justice Ramana asked.

But Mr. Mehta was non-committal. “I may not be able to say. The process has started,” the law officer said. He urged the court to trust the earnest tone and spirit of the government’s affidavit which promised the re-examination of the law. “There is a serious application of mind,” the Solicitor-General assured the court.>>

(Excerpted from: <https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/supreme-court-seeks-interim-protection-for-people-charged-with-sedition/article65401441.ece>.)

[Sukla Sen]

An update:

<<"We hope and expect Centre and State Governments will refrain from registering any FIR, continuing investigation, or taking coercive steps under Section 124 A IPC when it is under reconsideration. It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further re-examination is over">>

(Ref.: <https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/breaking-supreme-court-urges-centre-states-to-refrain-from-registering-firs-invoking-section-124a-ipc-198810>.)

Some spine, eventually.

In case of a violation - in fact there may be too many, there'd be no contempt case, but one would be able to approach the appropriate (local) court - armed with this directive.

Understandably, no magic wand - as the law has neither been struck down nor even read down.

Nonetheless, should make things decidedly easier.

Sukla

[Sukla Sen]

Here's an account of sedition cases - in terms of number, state-wise over the last ten years: <https://sedition.article-14.com/>.

Sukla