Skip to main content

What is Seditious in Expression?

History cannot be changed though the discourses which compile the histories in words are changed  strategically to achieve certain objectives. Indian nationalism found its expression against the British colony under its legacy. The transformation of colony into democratic and republic nation happened subject to caveat that its historical legacy remained unimpeded and intact. We may find mismatch in the aspirations of Indian republic with the means adopted by us to achieve that. The aspirations of Indian republic were expressed in the preamble of Indian Constitution. And the means to achieve them is the law we inherited from the British. The burdensome inheritance of British Juridical culture has made the governance lethargic and inefficient, adjudication complex and too technical to be fathomed by mind of ordinary prudence, and development "one dimensional" to refer a book title of Herbert Marcuse; be it urbanization, ghettoization, and "marketization of social goods and resources" in post-colonial India. 


Law of sedition is one of such complex inheritances from the British we chose to continue with, even though the aspirations of Indian republic are completely opposite to the aims and objectives of the British colony ruled in India.


Democracy requires discursive and non-discursive expressions for the betterment of the people and nation. And expression is toothless if it is expressed in fear or coercion. Art. 19 (1) (a), in that sense, of the Indian Constitution guarantees one of the most significant and fundamental rights for the Indian citizens, which is the quintessence for a functioning democracy. Its curtailment must be justified at the touchstone of reasonableness and proportionality, based upon certain specific subjects mentioned in Art. 19 (2) of the Constitution. The jurisprudence of "chilling effects" on the freedom of expression, recognized in Shreya Shinghal v. Union of India by the Apex Court, may be taken into consideration to examine the constitutionality of the law of sedition thriving and often misused by the regimes of the day since independence. 


Kedarnath judgment is often referred to understand the ambit of seditious expression. However, the decision of the apex court may be understood in context of its approach to read down the provison enshrined in Section 124-A, IPC, so as to save it from the ambit of Art. 19 (1) (a) of the Indian Constitution. The apex court ignored the plethora of judgments delivered in the colonial time which interpreted the section with wider possible amplitude, including one decided by the Privy Council in Niharendu Dutt Majumdar and Ors. v. Emperor without restricting it to the objective of incitement of public disorder or violence. The aims and objectives of this law were never meant to apply it to restrict the public disorder or violence rather to suppress and muzzle the voices of Indian leaders who were engaged in freedom struggle against the British. It is Federal Court's judgment (1947) of Justice Maurice Gwyer in King-Emperor v. Sadashiv Narayan Bhalerao which took a different path and restricted its scope around the expressions related to public disorder or violence. Kedarnath was an opportunity for the Apex Court to test the constitutionality of the section keeping in mind Art. 19 (1) (a). Had the Court followed the earlier judgments delivered in colonial era, the law wouldn't have passed the test of constitutionality, but the Court followed the Federal Court's judgment in S. N. Bhalerao to read down the provision; by that way the Court restricted its application though saved its existence in the Indian Penal Code, 1861. Following the transformation of Indian Constitution in the 21st Century of India, it is an apt opportunity for the Apex Court, since a petition has been filled by a concerned citizen, to see if this colonial-era law can pass the muster, especially in context of "chilling effect" jurisprudence evolved much recently in India.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Imagination

Student: I want to excel in my life. Over the years, my graph of success is achieving a new height. I am doing hard work to become one of the smartest and richest persons on the Earth. Teacher: Wonderful! Who is  achiever and what is achieved? Student: I am the achiever. My name and fame are shining day by day.  Teacher: Who is this ‘I’? What is the material by which it is produced? Student: I is the ego which is the agent achieving successes and facing failures. Teacher: Whether ego is real or imaginary? Student: It is made of name, form, and function. Teacher: Whether name, form, and function are eternal?  Student: No, they are changing. Teacher: Anything changes does it exist? Whether these are real or merely fictitious images appearing and disappearing before the sightscreen of mind? Student: They are the images constructing my identity as a person. Teacher: Well said! What is the stuff by which these images are made of? Who is maker and what is made? Student: They ar...

पिरोता जाऊँ एक माला ज़िन्दगी का

पढ़ता हूँ हर एक दिन एक ही पन्ना, हर दिन हज़ार ये मालूम पड़ते हैं। जबसे होश संभाला है एक ही पन्ना सवांरते आया हूँ, लोग इसे ज़िन्दगी कहते हैं। इसपे लिखे हर एक लब्ज़ जो मेरे मालूम पड़ते हैं, ना जाने कितने जुबां पे चढ़े होंगे। आज हम भी कुछ पल के लिए ही सही इसके सारथी हैं, जाने से पहले कुछ रंग मेरा भी इसपे चढ़ जाए, बस इसीलिए एक ही पन्ना बार बार पलटता रहता हूँ। हर कोई अनजाने किताब की तलाश में बाहर निकलता है, जिसका हर एक पन्ना वो ख़ुद है। जब ख़ुद के रंग को समझ ही ना पाया, तो भला इंद्रधनुषी किताब के क्या मायने हैं? अस्तित्व में ना जाने कितने पन्ने बिखरे पड़े हैं, बस एक से ही अवगत हो जाऊँ, उसके हर एक शब्द को चुनता जाऊँ, कुछ पल के लिये सही, पिरोता जाऊँ एक माला ज़िन्दगी का।

Time and Love

Time passes by Like moving in a train of thoughts Its sequence is always forward Vibrating like a cosmic dance of Shiva Time is creating and engulfing The little waves of the ocean Going where? Nobody knows Like a dream does not have a destination It is as true as any absurd play With friends of pleasure It moves like speed of light With friends of need It is felt like a moving river Allowing a little moments of thoughts Before everything becomes a history With friends of virtue Time becomes a sublime touch Soothing and healing the pain Becoming a spectator To watch the cries and follies Beauty and ugliness The rainbow of joy And an album of suffering Time touches Yet it remains aloof Like Purush is witnessing The colours of prakriti Yet remains unblemished And untouched The union of two is always mystical Their touch is a source Of creation and transformation Time is witnessing everything In its sequential movements Who is witnessing time? What is independent of the originatio...