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India Reduced The Law To A Terrorising Tool: Should Be Cautious. The Supreme Verdicts Speak
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India Reduced The Law To A Terrorising Tool: Should Be Cautious. The Supreme Verdicts Speak
India Reduced The Law To A Terrorising Tool: Should Be Cautious. The Supreme Verdicts Speak By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
Do such laws mockery of democracy in India?
"The Guild demands repeal of these draconian and antiquated laws that find no space in any modern liberal democracy," it said.
“Bogey of sedition-Hostile: Supreme Court steps in to safeguard media’s right to criticise govt: Updated At: Jun 05, 2021 06:37 AM (IST): Editorial: The Tribune, Chandigarh
https://www.tribuneindia.com/
Bogey of sedition: IN two judgments this week, the Supreme Court has stood up for the media’s right to criticise or comment on the government’s functioning — so long as there is no incitement to violence or any intention of creating public disorder. - File photo
IN two judgments this week, the Supreme Court has stood up for the media’s right to criticise or comment on the government’s functioning — so long as there is no incitement to violence or any intention of creating public disorder.
Quashing a sedition case registered against journalist Vinod Dua for his alleged comments targeting the Prime Minister, the court invoked the landmark judgment in Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar (1962) and ruled that “it is only when the words or expressions have pernicious tendency or intention of creating public disorder or disturbance of law and order that Sections 124A (sedition) and 505 (public mischief) of the IPC must step in.
On Monday, the court had given protection to two Telugu news channels which had been booked under the sedition law for airing views against the Andhra Pradesh government. In that case, the SC said the ambit and parameters of the colonial-era law required interpretation, particularly with regard to the right of the electronic and print media to broadcast/publish content that may be critical of any government anywhere in the country.
The Supreme Court and the High Courts have been repeatedly harking back to the 1962 verdict to specify what amounts to sedition and what doesn’t, besides taking a serious note of the misuse of the draconian law to stifle the citizens’ freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
It’s disturbing that sedition cases slapped against journalists and activists are on the rise in recent years.
However, most of these cases don’t have a leg to stand on in a court of law as these are largely coercive tactics aimed at silencing dissent and criticism. No wonder their conviction rate, which was 33 per cent in 2016, dropped to just 3 per cent in 2019.
It is hoped that the latest judgments will encourage mediapersons to do their job fearlessly and at the same time deter law enforcement agencies from lodging sedition FIRs at the drop of a hat.
The verdicts should also serve to caution the powers that be to avoid reducing the law to a terrorising tool”. Editorial: The Tribune, Chandigarh
“In India, sedition law is the ‘toolkit’ to suppress dissent and criticism: Campus Voice is an initiative by ThePrint where young Indians get an opportunity to express their opinions on a prevalent issue”. The Print
"The Guild demands repeal of these draconian and antiquated laws that find no space in any modern liberal democracy," it said.
While the reference to the earlier judgement of Justice Kedar Nath Singh and the need to protect journalists from sedition charges is welcome, the manner in which such laws are implemented by the law enforcement authorities in different parts of the country, "leading to pre-trial incarceration, needs further intervention by the apex court", the Guild added.
"We have noticed, with dismay, a growing trend in India in recent times where both the central and the state governments have routinely slapped sedition charges on journalists for articles, tweets, Facebook posts that criticise government policies, actions of their functionaries and shortcomings in governance," the IWPC said in a statement”: Journalist bodies welcome SC verdict on sedition case against Vinod Dua: https://www.outlookindia.com/
Highlights speak more loudly: Isn’t?
India Reduced The Law To A Terrorising Tool: Should Be Cautious. The Supreme Verdicts Speak
"The Guild demands repeal of these draconian and antiquated laws that find no space in any modern liberal democracy," it said.
Do such laws the mockery of democracy in India?
“Bogey of sedition-Hostile: Supreme Court steps in to safeguard media’s right to criticise govt: Updated At: Jun 05, 2021 06:37 AM (IST): Editorial: The Tribune, Chandigarh
https://www.tribuneindia.com/
http://www.thekhalsa.org/
Neither can see nor can hear: Darkness prevails all around!
http://www.thekhalsa.org/
http://www.sapulse.com/new_
The Government of India’s Goodbye to Democracy: Why? Analysis By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
http://www.sapulse.com/new_
Forwarded By: Balbir Singh Sooch-Sikh Vichar Manch
http://www.sikhvicharmanch.
First Posted On: June 5, 2021, 07: 49 IST
https://www.tribuneindia.com/
India Reduced The Law To A Terrorising Tool: Should Be Cautious. The Supreme Verdicts Speak