Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, the Chairman of the 22nd Law Commission of India, said that its recommendation to increase the penalties under Section 12A – the ‘Sedition Law’ – was necessary to maintain the integrity of the country.
In an interview to ANI, the former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice said, “Sedition law is very much needed. We have thoroughly examined the issue of the usage of Sedition law. We have submitted our report to the government. We have said that it is very much required in the present situation of the country for integrity and unity.”
He referenced to the current political turmoil in several places, such as the Kashmir insurgency, the rise of Khalistani politics, and the ethnic violence in Manipur, and said that a strong sedition law could help curb those and maintain the country’s integrity. He said, “From Kashmir to Kerala and from Punjab to the North East, if you see the situation, you’ll see it [the sedition law] is required for the integrity of the country.”
This interview comes in the backdrop of the recommendations of the Law Commission to the government on June 8, when the judicial body recommended several changes to Section 124A.
The recommendations, drafted by Justice Awasthi, titled ‘Usage of the Law of Sedition’, advised the government to increase the maximum penalty under the sedition law to be increased from three years to seven. It recommended that the government could invoke the sedition law in case of a ‘tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder’.
The recommendation cites several legal cases, in both colonial and independent India, to strengthen its arguments. It also recommended ‘safeguards’ to curb any misuse of Section 124A.
However, critics and human rights activists have called the new recommendations ‘draconian’, especially criticising the vague language used in the report.
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