The Supreme Court on Tuesday, 10 May saw a hearing – which was supposed to be about whether there was a need to refer the pleas before it challenging the sedition law to a larger bench – sidetracked by the question of whether the court should defer considering constitutionality of a law when the government says it is reconsidering the law.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta began the hearing by reiterating that the Centre is planning to "re-consider and re-examine" Section 124A, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's belief in civil liberties and the need to shed our colonial baggage.
They have asked the court to not invest time in this case striking down the law on sedition while the central government conducts this review, which they believe is the appropriate forum for any reconsideration of the law on sedition.
Mehta requested the court to defer hearing the case on Monday, which was strongly contested by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners.
"The exercise of this court cannot be stopped merely because the legislature says it will take some time to reconsider, which could take six months or one year. It is for the judiciary to examine the constitutionality of a law," Sibal said.