INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
NEW DELHI: One of the key changes proposed in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, is doing away with the much-misused Section 124A of the
day from subversion, secession and armed rebellion against the Indian state
Under the proposed law, offences shall be punished with imprisonment for life or with a prison term that may extend to seven years and can
include a fine.Explanation to section on new law replacing sedition appears incompleteUnder the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill, the law to
excite, secession or armed rebellion or subversive activities, or encourages feelings of separatist activities or endangers sovereignty or
attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in
However, the explanation to the section, which appeared to convey that it will not apply to protests against measures of the government so
The demand to drop the sedition law, slammed by many as a colonial vestige and a law often misused by governments to suppress freedom of
speech and dissent, has seen debates and was also the subject of several court cases over the years.Importantly, the Law Commission of India
had, in a report submitted only a few months back, not only favoured retention of Section 124A but also recommended enhancing the jail term
in sedition cases from a minimum three years to seven years
This came even as the government had dropped hints of its intent to review the sedition law as part of the larger exercise to review the
IPC, CrPC and Indian Evidence Act
In May last year, the SC had ruled that the sedition trials be paused and no new FIRs be registered under Section 124A while the government
re-examines the provision
As per data compiled by NCRB, between 2014 and 2021, 428 sedition cases and 634 arrests on charges of sedition were recorded
Conviction rate under sedition cases during the period ranged from as low as 3.3% in 2019 to 33.3% in 2020.WatchBritish era Sedition Law to
be repealed, Home Minister Amit Shah makes big announcement
