It was in May of 2022 that the Supreme Court lifted the emergency brake. They studied the colonial-era sedition law, the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 124A, and issued a call to the nation.They studied the colonial era sedition act – Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 124A and gave a call to the nation. They directed the police to stop taking new cases. They asked lower courts to put on hold all active trials and appeals. The concept is good in theory. The central government will look at the old British law. The court desired a halt to everything until this review was concluded. But this big pause was a big bottleneck. Unfortunately, some were jailed and the legal proceedings against them were halted. They were not able to go forward. But they couldn’t deny their beliefs. The judiciary simply left their files in place and left
A man’s life trapped inside the machine.
Notice a person called Kamran.Notice a person named Kamran. He’s why the Supreme Court made some minor adjustments to its rules this week. Kamran has been in prison for seventeen long years. In February 2017, he was given a severe sentence by a trial court in Bhopal. Under an awkward collection of extreme legislation, the judge found him guilty. They used the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against him. The Arms Act was used by them. In the middle of it all was the sedition charge, Section 124A. He was sentenced to life in prison
But Kamran wanted to fight this. He moved to the Madhya Pradesh High Court with this case. He was hoping for a division bench to review his conviction and listen to his side of the story. However, the Supreme Court gave that blanket stay order in 2022. Supreme Court’s order made, and the judges of Madhya Pradesh just shoved Kamran’s file into a drawer. One of his charges was “sedition”, so they were not allowed to touch the appeal. He was caught up in the very law that should have protected the citizens from a hard one.
- Breaking the Deadlock
Now, Kamran’s attorney wanted to fight back. Senior Advocate Trideep Pais made it to the top. He was appearing before three Supreme Court judges on Thursday. Justice Surya Kant, the Chief Justice of India, presided over the panel, which was also attended by Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi. Pais unrolled a very awkward truth. His client was in a legal quicksand. Kamran didn’t want the government to delay in deciding the wording of the sedition law. He only wanted to go to court one day
Pais told the judges that Kamran was “against nothing” to the High Court hearing his entire criminal appeal. If it meant he could get his case moving, he was more than happy to take the sedition case on the chin. The lawyer noted the hardship of the situation. A man was being held in prison without a chance at vindication, thanks to a “freeze” that blocked police abuse.
The Court changes the Rule.
The three judges heard. They saw the trap. They thus issued a crucial clarification. The bench returned to paragraph 8 of their interim order from the original May 2022 order. They dug a hole to get away. The court ruled that trials and appeals in a Section 124A case can only be conducted and with the consent of the accused.
Their language was very specific. As long as the accused does not object to the continuation of the trial or appeal, there is no obstacle, they said. Now all national courts are able to address these issues on a case-by-case basis based upon the law. The Supreme Court ensured that the Madhya Pradesh High Court also speedy disposed of the pending appeal of Kamran. They didn’t say whether he was guilty or not. They simply directed the lower court to dig in and go!
The way the Hold comes from the Old Testament.
This isn’t something that people can just ignore because it is because of how we ended up here. It was the British who drew up Section 124A in the far back of 1890. It was used to arrest people such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak and the Mahatma Gandhi. For decades, activists and journalists have slammed the provision. They refer to it as a weapon for squelching dissent. The law punishes with imprisonment anything that arouses disaffection of the government. Conviction can result in life in prison.
A few years ago petitions were swamped in the courts requesting its elimination. It was spearheaded by various organisations such as Editors Guild of India and Peoples Union for Civil Liberties. Finally, in 2022, the government reconsidered the text, and agreed. The Supreme Court put the brakes on them and gave them breathing space. The issue is that the wheels of government turn very slowly. The wait was four years. Hundreds of pending files were left to rot and politicians debated the definition.
This is about change of the Legal Landscape.
This is even more complicated today, as the entire legal landscape is changing. The government enacted the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita that superseded the previous Indian Penal Code. The new code doesn’t contain the actual term sedition. Yet critics say it’s merely re-packaged the same product.
In a hearing in February, Chief Justice Kant said that this does not prevent Parliament from drawing up a new version of the old law. Even the new laws aim at offenses that threaten the sovereignty of India or its unity. Lawyers say the new wording is as general and ambiguous as the old colonial wording. They claim it continues to outlaw such concepts as separatism and subversion. The fighting over what speech is or isn’t legal is far from over
- What Happens Next in Trial Courts
The Thursday decision tips the scales in local courts. Judges no longer need to sit and wait for mixed-charge cases. In the past, if a prosecutor charged a person with sedition in addition to other offenses, then the entire trial would come to a standstill. This isn’t a strict prohibition on other charges, however, the 2022 order did leave room for other charges to be heard, provided they did not prejudice the accused. But in fact, it is nearly impossible to separate out a sedition charge from a larger conspiracy or terrorism charge.
