My duty to protect country: Petitioner on sedition law

BENGALURU: Wednesday was a day of reckoning for all those who had petitioned against the sedition law after the Supreme Court in a historic judgement said no new FIRs should be filed for sedition, all pending cases will be on hold while the government reconsiders the law and those charged for sedition under Section 124A can approach the court for bail.

Maj Gen (Retd) Sudhir Vombatkere from Mysuru had filed a petition in July 2021 along with others against the sedition law after he felt that “great injustice has been done by subsequent governments against fellow Indians under the Colonial law,” he told TNIE.

“As a soldier, my duty is to protect the Constitution. The sedition law contravenes Articles 19 1 (A), 14 and 21 dealing with the Right to Equality, Freedom of Speech and Expression and Protection of Life and Personal Liberty,” he said, quoting his lawyer Kapil Sibal that there are 800 sedition cases  in the country and 13,000 people are in jail on charges of sedition.

“The petitioners’ prayer is to take this law completely off the rule book and deliver justice to all these people,” he added. Bengaluru-based lawyer and faculty, Azim Premji University, Arvind Narrain welcomed the apex court judgement in response to the petitions filed by Maj Gen (Retd) Vombatkere, People’s Union for Civil Liberties and other petitioners challenging the constitutional validity of Section 124A of the IPC.

“The operative part of the order expresses the hope and expectation that the Centre and state governments will refrain from using this provision of law till further re-examination is over,” said Narrain.