UN Human Rights Office hails Supreme Court order on sedition, calls for immediate release of all detained under the law

"We welcome the Indian Supreme Court’s order to reconsider the Sedition Law, which has been used arbitrarily & widely against peaceful critics. All those currently detained under the law should be considered for immediate release," the UN Human Rights said in a tweet on Thursday.

New Delhi:The United Nations Human Rights Office has welcomed the order passed by the Supreme Court of India on sedition and has called for the immediate release of all detained under the colonial law.

"We welcome the Indian Supreme Court’s order to reconsider the Sedition Law, which has been used arbitrarily & widely against peaceful critics. All those currently detained under the law should be considered for immediate release," the UN Human Rights said in a tweet on Thursday.

On Wednesday, in a landmark order, the Supreme Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India, NV Ramana, allowed the central government to re-examine the sedition law under section 124A and ordered to not register any cases till the re-examination is over.

A total of 326 cases were registered in the country under the controversial colonial era law between 2014 and 2019 in which just six persons were convicted. According to the Union Home Ministry data, a total of 326 cases were registered under the sedition law -- the highest, 54, in Assam -- between 2014 and 2019.

Earlier on Monday, the Centre told the Supreme Court not to invest time in examining the validity of sedition law as it has decided to go for re-consideration of the provisions by a competent forum. The Centre also said it was cognisant of various views, and concerns about civil liberties while being committed to protecting the sovereignty and integrity of this great nation.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, in an affidavit, referred to the views of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on shedding the colonial baggage and said he has been in favour of the protection of civil liberties and respect of human rights, and in that spirit, has scrapped over 1,500 outdated laws and over 25,000 compliance burdens.

On July 15, 2021, concerned over "enormous misuse" of the colonial era penal law on sedition, the Supreme Court had asked the Centre why it was not repealing the provision used by the British to "silence" people like Mahatma Gandhi to suppress freedom movement.