"Is sedition law still needed after 75 years of Independence?" CJI NV Ramana's question to the Centre has once again revived the debate on whether it's time to review this law that comes from India's colonial era.
This observation came up in a hearing on a plea challenging the constitutional validity of Section 124A of the IPC.
Just like UAPA cases, even sedition cases have risen in the past few years, despite the conviction rate till being a meagre 3.3% till 2019 as per the NCRB data.
While the Centre has been constantly accused of slapping such charges against citizens to quell dissent, many lawyers, activists, and other members of the civil society have been saying that the sedition law need to be struck down.
So, what are the arguments against the sedition law? Is it being misused by the state and is it time for it to be scrapped? We speak to Naveed Mehmood Ahmad, a Research Fellow at Vidhi Center for Legal Policy. Tune in!
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