New Delhi: Describing sedition law as ‘colonial’, the Supreme Court today expressed concern over the misuse of the law and asked the Union government why it has not got rid of the law, which was originally meant to ‘suppress freedom movement’ at a time when several old laws have been repealed.
The law is a serious threat to the functioning of institutions and holds ‘enormous power’ for misuse with no accountability for the executive, the court said, comparing it to a saw in the hands of an overzealous carpenter.
‘The sedition law is a colonial law. Do we still need the law in our country after 75 years of Independence,’ Chief Justice NV Ramana questioned.
The court asked why the government, while taking a number of dated laws off the statute book, ‘is not looking into this law’.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, during arguments, suggested that the law be retained with ‘guidelines’.
‘If we go see history of charging of this section, the enormous power of this section can be compared to a carpenter being a saw to make an item, who uses it to cut the entire forest instead of a tree. That’s the effect of this provision,’ the Chief Justice of India said. He also clarified that he is not blaming any government for the misuse of the provision.