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SC to hear in January pleas challenging constitutional validity of IPC provision on sedition
Public Lokpal
November 22, 2023
SC to hear in January pleas challenging constitutional validity of IPC provision on sedition
New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will hear in January a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the IPC provision on sedition, months after the Centre introduced in Parliament bills to replace the colonial-era penal statutes, proposing among other things the repeal of the sedition law.
Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said he would constitute an appropriate bench to hear the matter.
It appointed advocates Prasanna S and Pooja Dhar as nodal counsel to facilitate the compilation of case laws and other statutory material before the hearing.
The apex court had earlier declined to accept the Centre's fervent request that reference of the petitions to a larger bench be deferred as Parliament is in the process of "re-enacting" the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a bill has been placed before a standing committee.
The court had said assuming that the bill, which proposes among other things the repeal of the sedition law and introduction of a new provision with a wider definition of the offence, becomes a law, it cannot be applied with retrospective effect.
The bench had observed that Section 124A (sedition) of the IPC continues to remain in the statute book, and even if the new bill becomes a law, there is a presumption that any new law in the penal statute will have prospective and not retrospective effect.
It had noted the constitutional validity of Section 124A was tested by the apex court on the basis of a challenge that it was ultra vires to Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution in the 1962 judgement of Kedar Nath Singh versus State of Bihar. Article 19(1)(a) relates to the right to freedom of speech and expression.
The 1962 judgement had upheld the constitutionality of Section 124A and held it was in harmony with Article 19(1)(a).
PTI
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