Author – Abhishek Saha, Student from West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences.

1. INTRODUCTION

The law of sedition needs no new introduction a law that states that any speech or statement that results in violence or lawlessness against the government[1]. The law is ambiguous vague and is used as a tool to suppress dissent. A law created by colonial masters as stood the passage of time despite being violative of constitutional values and principles. It directly violates Article 19 freedom of speech and expression[2] and Article 21 right to life and liberty.[3] Sedition as the law goes against the very beliefs that our constitution upholds—a law that should be scrapped for being repressive and vague.

2. OBJECTIVES

The main focus of the analysis of this paper is to show how the sedition law does not follow constitutional beliefs and ideals and how it should not be applied in modern times for being violative of fundamental and constitutional rights.

3. RATIONALE

As law students, we are always told to follow the constitution and uphold its beliefs and rights. The law of sedition is blatantly violating the very ideals which we are required to upheld and is throwing a serious challenge to constitutional rights and beliefs. So sedition as a law should not be used in modern times.

4.METHODS

The method mainly includes study of scholarly articles in the context of sedition and its misuse. Link of sedition with human and fundamental rights violation and the various opinion articles on it and analysis of articles mentioning why sedition in modern democratic context should not be used and need changes in its overall structure and power. 

5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

There has been a huge debate on whether sedition is still applicable in present times and whether it should be scrapped and removed for violation of the constitution. These research problems have led to the formation of the two research questions as stated below:-

1. Sedition as a law curbs dissent
2. Sedition violates fundamental and human rights

6. ANALYSIS

Dissent is the safety valve of democracy. A legitimate government encourages dialogue and political opposition and don’t stifle it.[4] Sedition as a law is used for the very purpose of stifling dissent. Suppression of dissent and popular and unpopular voices by sedition is a great threat to pluralism in the country. Protecting dissent ensures that your elected government offers room for suggestions and development[5]. The employment of sedition to curb dissent violates the rule of law and the constitutional belief of a pluralist society and hampers the basis of all growth, i.e., political, economic, social, and cultural. The law of sedition is being used to curb criticisms against government actions and policies and not against the real reason incitement to violence against the state. The law in recent times has been heavily misused, be it by firs against Kanhaiya Kumar or amnesty international it is used by the government to stifle any kind of dissent.[6] Sedition is used by the government to muzzle dissenters even when the case would not stand judicial scrutiny. The law of sedition is used against anybody who tries to express dissent. Successive governments have deployed sedition in order to criminalize political opposition. This is made evident from the fact of low prosecution of these offenses as compared to high registration of same these cases are filled with the sole purpose of to intimidate and inconvenience movement groups and activists.[7] The individuals charged under sedition are used as cautionary tales of citizens to show that even those actions which are not considered as violent or even remotely harmful can be considered as seditious.[8] The narratives of nationalism created by this misuse of sedition law is a direct threat to Indian democracy dissent is no longer seen as democratic rights but as a threat to the nation; the labeling of people as Naxals and anti-nationals is used to silence the dissent of citizens and threatening them that their actions can have serious repercussions.[9] Human rights activists and political opponents are most targeted by the law of sedition. The recent use of the law of sedition has increased by two folds and is highly misused that even in several cases, charge sheets are not filled and accused are kept in custody and are being denied their basic rights. False booking of cases under sedition shows how treacherous it could be to use the law loosely despite that in modern India with all its constitutional safeguards, the law is being misused.[10] A serious change is required in the law, and it needs to be repled as such a law in an anti-thesis to the constitution. Freedom of speech and expression is a cherished fundamental right that can only be taken away by following due process of law. Democracy requires citizens to express their views and opinions regarding various policies and actions. However, the sedition law has empowered the government to ambiguously use this provision to regulate public opinion and to wield absolute power.[11] Sedition is used to instill a sense of compliance with government policies. The law has been used excessively in the recent past to silence the voices and protect the interest of the government, be it the arrest of  NDTV journalist Vinod Dua for criticizing government covid- 19 response and Disha Ravi toolkit case for supporting the farmer’s protest shows a serious issue regarding the right to express views and opinions which is granted by the constitution.[12] The sedition law reduces the creditability of the government as they are able to ignore their critics and instead are able to charge them with sedition.[13] The sedition law provides a blanket power to the government to silence any kind of dissent and is therefore not a good law and should be removed. The law violating the right to dissent and the basic human rights of expressing opinion freedom of speech the law is very problematic and goes against basic democratic principles. Free expression is a right, and restrictions are an exception, and such restrictions should also pass the test of reasonableness as decided by several court judgements, but sedition is still be used indiscriminately despite not being able to pass the test of reasonableness.[14] However, sedition law still remains in statute books despite being against constitutional beliefs and is being misused despite several safeguards. Such a law does not stand the anvil of the constitution and should not be applied in modern times; however, it is still being used to curb dissent and opposition, giving an impression that autocratic laws still carry a greater hold than democratic principles.    

7. CONCLUSION

Thus we can clearly see how sedition as a law is a direct antithesis to constitutional values and principles and goes against the very rights which the constitution granted us for our protection and overall development. Sedition and its misuse by the government have become a matter of serious concern. Sedition law and its gross misuse are attacking the very foundation of liberties that are enshrined by the constitution. Laws of sedition have been condemned throughout the democratic world as being undemocratic and undesirable. The arguments are applicable in the Indian context as the law has been mainly used to curb dissent, and the trend has intensified in recent years, which shows that India is taking a turn away from democracy.[15] The need of the hour is to have a judicial review of the draconian law using the modern democratic beliefs[16]. Even though repealing the law maybe not be possible, issuing strict guidelines to prevent its misuse is of utmost necessity, and it will help in India’s democratic standing and will safeguard freedom of speech and expression.

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