• Zuber Khan

There are many laws inherited from India's colonial rule, few have been as contentious as those relating to seditious offences. When we speak in particular about the law of sedition so since independence the law of sedition has been updated and interpreted to include protections so that it can withstand constitutional scrutiny. This rule, however, still serves as an important instrument for means to restrict freedom of speech and for purposes that are probably similar to those of our former authoritarian rulers, various governments have used it. I have made a case in this paper in favour of abolishing the law of sedition. By examining how the legislation has evolved, interpreted and applied by the courts since it was passed by the British regime and it can be argued that it is indeterminate and vague by its very nature and cannot be applied uniformly. The colonial autocratic regime, however, had a specific purpose in enacting this rule, which can not apply to a democratically elected government after independence. An examination of the sedition cases before the High Courts and Supreme Court reveals that the sedition offense is becoming increasingly obsolete. In this paper I have discussed the findings of the court in Kedar Nath v. State of Bihar which upheld the constitutional validity of Section 124A of IPC and demonstrate that the law has evolved considerably since then. In this paper I will draw from the English experience with the crime of sedition, explaining why it should find no place in a modern democracy.

Sedition, Freedom of Speech and Expression, Indian Penal Code 1860, Sec 124A, Reasonable restrictions.

"A NEED FOR EMENDATION OF SEDITION LAWS IN INDIA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 2, page no.319-332, February-2020, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2002249.pdf

"A NEED FOR EMENDATION OF SEDITION LAWS IN INDIA", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.7, Issue 2, page no. pp319-332, February-2020, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2002249.pdf