The Supreme Court order on Section 124A is a validation and vindication of the Centre’s stance, said government officials, adding the Apex Court has given them the nod to issue an advisory for the state governments to prevent misuse of the sedition law.
Citing the SC order, the officials, on condition of anonymity, said the Supreme Court has only said it “expects” that nobody will use Section 124A till the Central Government decides on the matter, and has not stayed the provision of sedition.
The SC order is based on the stand of the Union of India and extensively quotes the Government’s affidavit, which mentions PM Narendra Modi’s unequivocal views against the colonial law, officials said.
DRAFT ACCEPTED
The SC order states: “We hope and expect that the State and Central Governments will restrain from registering any FIR, continuing any investigation or taking any coercive measures by invoking Section 124A while the aforesaid provision of law is under consideration. If any fresh case is registered under Section 124A, affected parties are at liberty to approach the concerned courts for appropriate relief. Courts are requested to examine reliefs sought, taking into account present order passed as well as the clear stand taken by Union of India.”
Officials said the Central Government has placed a draft of proposed directives before the Supreme Court, which the Home Ministry will issue to the state governments to prevent any misuse of the sedition law. The SC has accepted the proposed draft in its order.
The SC order states: “The Union of India shall be at liberty to issue the Directive as proposed and placed before us, to state governments/union territories to prevent any misuse of Section 124A of IPC.”
THE ADVISORY
The proposed advisory states that an “FIR involving Section 124A will be registered only if an officer not below the rank of Superintendent of Police is satisfied and records his satisfaction in writing that the offence alleged involves Section 124A as analysed by Supreme Court in captioned judgment.”
Government officials also said the SC has stayed trials where individual offence alleged in the FIR is only sedition (Section 124A), but cases where sedition is one of the offences, along with other serious offences, will continue as pleaded by the Solicitor General and accepted by the SC.
Cases under trial such as the Bhima-Koregaon case have offences apart from sedition invoked.
Officials also said that SC has mentioned the concerns of the Central Government regarding security interest.
“This Court is cognizant of security interests and integrity of the State on one hand, and the civil liberties of citizens on the other. There is a requirement to balance both sets of considerations, which is a difficult exercise. The case of the petitioners is that this provision of law dates back to 1898, and pre-dates the Constitution itself, and is being misused. The Attorney General had also, on an earlier date of 4 hearing, given some instances of glaring misuse of this provision, like in the case of recital of the Hanuman Chalisa,” the court order states.
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