Congress claims Centre wants to make sedition law more draconian

Citing the Law Commission of India's backing of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) pertaining to sedition, the Congress has claimed that the central government was planning to make the law even more "draconian." The grand old party also alleged the Centre wanted to send a message before the next Lok Sabha elections that the law will be used against opposition leaders.

• The sedition law has been widely criticized, with many flagging concerns over the Centre's misuse of the law to target its critics.
• Furthermore, the legal validity of the British-era legislation has also been questioned.
• It is worth noting that the number of cases filed under Section 124A went up by 160% between 2016 and 2019, but the conviction rate went down to 3%.

Raising concerns, Congress spokesperson and senior Supreme Court advocate Abhishek Singhvi on Friday said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), through its instrumentalities and agencies, is clearly using or intending to use sedition as a tool to subversive, subjugate, and silence dissent." "This government has obliquely declared its clear intent to continue its selective and partisan misuse of this law against political dissent," Singhvi added.

Stating that the apex court had stayed the operation of the law on sedition last year, Singhvi noted that it was "quite astonishing" how the Law Commission recommended not only retention of Section 124A of IPC but making it more fierce. "The BJP is planning to become draconian, drastic, and deadly by misuse of a colonial-era law," The Indian Express quoted him as saying.

Furthermore, Singhvi added that the commission's proposal provided no additional limitations to contain the law's misuse. "A colonial mindset coupled with a signal sent to the nation that we intend to retain this draconian provision as a threat to you, as a threat upon you, as a threat against freedom of speech, thought, and action, which is the essence of democracy itself," he added.

On Friday, the BJP-led Centre quickly distanced itself from the Law Commission's recommendation to retain sedition as a penal offense, stressing that its view was not binding on the government, which would make a last decision after consulting with all stakeholders. While recommending Section 124A, the commission called for safeguards and amending the law, which has been prone to misuse.

Taking to Twitter, Law and Justice Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said, "The Law Commission report on sedition is one of the steps in the extensive consultative process." "Now that we have received the report, we will also hold consultations with all the other stakeholders so that we take an informed and reasoned decision in the public interest," he further said.