The Sedition Conundrum in India: A Critical Examination of its Historical Evolution, Current Application and Constitutional Validity

Abstract

The fundamental scheme of the Indian Constitution furthers absolute antagonism against the sedition provision that has its underpinnings in the archaic principles of the colonial era. Commentators on Indian law and politics have raised concerns that the country’s sedition law runs counter to India’s peculiar libertarian constitutional framework. The trepidation of the accused is intensified by ambiguous, vague and unclear wording of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. This article examines the judicial promotion of free speech in sedition cases as law under the aegis of Article 141 of the Constitution of India. By investigating its ancestry, the author proposes to shed light on the circumstances behind the conception and establishment of the Sedition Act in colonial India. The article further intends to comparatively analyse and examine the sedition statutes of India and other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States of America, etc., with a comprehensive emphasis on the philosophy and rulings of the respective Supreme Courts. The article concludes by proposing that India’s arbitrary sedition statute should be repealed for being redundant and in derogation with the country’s professed legal compass, the “Rule of Law”.