On Thursday, 5 May — the day when the apex court was slated to begin hearing the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law (Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code) — the court found itself caught up in a dilemma about whether more judges needed to hear this matter, which has significant implications for civil liberties.
While the bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli did not end up hearing any arguments on this preliminary issue on the day, there were still some significant takeaways from the brief hearing that took place.
The central government still did not have a response to the petitions ready and sought an extension for filing their response for the second time.
The Attorney General for India KK Venugopal — who was not representing the Center in this case but assisting the court as a constitutional office bearer — emphatically defended the sedition law, as well as the Kedar Nath judgment from 1962 which had said that Section 124A of the IPC was constitutional and could remain a part of the law.
The question of whether the matter should be referred to a larger bench saw contrary views being taken by all sides, and will now need to be addressed separately by the court (which will hear arguments from the petitioners and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on Tuesday, 10 May), potentially delaying the court's ability to hear the merits of the case.