Indian Penal Code- Section 124 A

Meenakshi Seetharaman (9412) Mandaar Gosavi (9406) Abhishek Kumar Prerna Dawda Indian Penal Code- Section 124 A

What is theIndian Penal Code?

Indian Penal Code Also known as Bharatiya Dand Samhita Main criminal code of India Drafted in 1860 and came into force in 1862 Suggestions derived from England Law and French Penal Code Amended several times Adopted by Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

Large types of offences are covered under IPC Ranging from general offences to abetment to conspiracy to offences against any government servants. Offences against the state fall under the Sections 120 to 130 Any one or any thing that plans to go against the state shall be punished under the Section 124 A-Sedition

Section 124 A 1[124A. Sedition Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards,2[***] the Government established by law in3[India],4[***] shall be punished with5[imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.

Explanation 1.--The expression "disaffection" includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. Explanation 2.--Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

Explanation 3.--Comments expressing disapprobation of the administrative or other action of the Government without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under this section.

In layman’s terms… Section 124A of the IPC simply announces that spreading sedition and disaffection is a crime. What is Sedition? ~1. incitement of discontent or rebellion against a government. ~2.any action, esp. in speech or writing, promoting such discontent or rebellion. ~3.Archaic . rebellious disorder.

How Sedition crept into our Constitution Introduced to limit the fundamental right of speech. Nehru receive a lot of flak for compromising the right to free speech and opinion Romesh Thapar case prompted Nehru to immediately make amends in the proposed draft. The second case was of the Organiser-the RSS mouthpiece. So Nehru government had to amend both the articles 124 A and 19 (92)

Case Study:1 Lokmanya Tilak: Bal Gangadhar Tilak faced this during the repressive British regime. As the editor of 'Kesari', Tilak on May 12, 1908, titled his editorial 'The misfortune of the country', castigating the ruthless bureaucracy. The British police, slapped sedition charges against Tilak under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code. He was arrested on May 25, 1908, convicted by jury trial on July 17, 1908, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment in the case - popularly known as 'Second Sedition Case'.

Case Study:2 Mahatma Gandhi At the time, Gandhi was being tried for writing three articles in his newspaper, Young India, in which he sharply criticized the government’s repressive measures to suppress the people’s struggle. In mounting his defense in the 1922 trial, Gandhi struck at the very foundation of this law. (One commentator writes: “The trial was endowed with classic grandeur enveloped with a Socratic passion for truth emanating from Gandhi’s lips.”) Gandhi pleaded guilty to the charge of sedition and spreading disaffection.

Case Study:3 “Pity the nation that has to silence its writers for speaking their minds. Pity the nation that needs to jail those who ask for justice while communal killers, mass murderers, corporate scamsters, looters, rapists, and those who prey on the poorest of the poor, roam free.” Arundhati Roy Self-proclaimed human rights activist Arundhati Roy's anti-India India rant is now under the scanner.When Arundhati Roy's two speeches in last four days were made in public, Centre and Jammu and Kashmir government took notice and have now started scrunitising her speeches. Ms. Roy has made two speeches in New Delhi and Srinagar in the past few days in which she sought independence for Kashmir from India.

Case Study:4 • Many Muslims felt that Salman Rushdie had taken outrageous liberties with their faith. When the Muslim community tried to invoke the blasphemy law to protect their faith, they felt powerless victims of religious discrimination. • Muslims tried to prosecute Rushdie for seditious libel Under Sedition act.. Salman Rushdie In 1991, Abdul Choudhury sought summonses against Salman Rushdie and his publishers, Viking Penguin, alleging that the publishing "The Satanic Verses" they had committed a blasphemous libel against Islam. The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the Muslim role model. All the aspects of his way of life make up the Muslim identity. In "The Satanic Verses" the Prophet is seen to make up revelations, which are little more than convenient excuses, which enable him to lead his sexually frivolous lifestyle

Case Study:5 TOI, Ahmadabad Edition: The features carried by Times of India exposing the close nexus between police officer OP Mathur and Abdul Latif, is not only appalling but raises serious questions about the credibility of the police officer on a high rank and the level of criminalization of police in the state. The story of the news was- ’How safe is Ahmadabad under OP Mathur?’ Registering the case against Times of India is a deliberate action of police to suppress the voice of dissent of the press and create an atmosphere of panic in the state. A series of activities on freedom of expression are going on in the city. The citizens of Ahmadabad came out and condemned the sedition charge and stood for freedom of press and freedom of expression.

Case Study:6 In unusually strident remarks, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday described the RSS as "fanatical", saying it was no different from banned terror outfit SIMI and that both hold "fundamentalist" views. Rahul Gandhi An RSS worker from Ranchi, Ashish Singh,, has recently filed two petitions in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate against AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi. In the petition, the activist has asked the magistrate to file a criminal case against Rahul for having called RSS a terrorist organization and comparing it to SIMI during a public meeting, which was held at Bhopal on October 6.

Case Study:7 Mulayam slams media for sedition case against SP leader: The case was registered on the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Budaun, on an application filed by a Bajrang Dal activist. Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh expressed anguish at the case of sedition filed against [senior party leader] Mohammad Azam Khan in Budaun for his reported comments on Kashmir and a Union Minister.

The Samajwadi Party president lashed out against a TV news channel for airing the “one-sided” footage and not showing Mr. Khan's regrets over his reported remark. Mr. Singh accused the news channel of irresponsible reporting. The Samajwadi Party chief told reporters here that people were losing faith in a section of the electronic media, and if the trend continued there would be complete loss of faith and credibility in the news channels. Describing the sedition charge as serious, Mr. Singh urged the court not to rely on the news channels.

Growing pressure to repeal the section Following Binayak Sen’s Life imprisonment there has been a lot of pressure on the government to repeal the Section 124 A. Also requires a mass-based, nation wide civil liberties movement. So it has to be decided when to apply this section.

Thank You

Indian Penal Code- Section 124 A