Law Commission's sedition law recommendations not binding on govt: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Dubey

In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, Dubey said that concrete amendments are required in the law "because you cannot continue with the same existing law in the present context".

New Delhi: Senior Supreme Court lawyer Ashwini Dubey on Saturday said that the Law Commission's recommendation to retain the colonial era Sedition law is not binding on the government. In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, Dubey said, "Firstly, the law commission's recommendation is not binding on the government and it needs to be seen how the government will react to it."

"Secondly, the bench of the Supreme Court under Justice Ramana last year when hearing this matter said that this law needs to be struck down because of the reason that if you'll sea the conviction rates as well as the misuse and abuse at the behest of the state, it is rampant", he added. The SC lawyer said that the law was brought in by the colonisers “with the sole purpose of suppressing the voice of the freedom fighters”.

“Now I think certain parameters need to be drawn and there should be some concrete amendments in the law because you cannot continue with the same existing law in the present context," he said. The Law Commission of India in its 279th report on the usage of the sedition law has opined against the repeal of the the colonial era law and instead recommended that the law should be 'retained'.

The report has been met with sharp criticism by the Congress. Congress leader and senior advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Friday while addressing the media at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi termed the development “extremely worrying” and “treacherous”. "The latest report by the Law Commission not just opines to retain this colonial era law but rather it's has made it more stringent.

Now, the sentence has been increased from three to seven years. This is extremely worrying and shows the colonial mindset of the BJP", he said. Singhvi later launched a scathing attack on the BJP and said that development "comes ahead of the Lok Sabha and other assembly elections. So, they now want to threaten the entire opposition.

If you'll analyse the number of people who have been facing sedition charge since 2014, the rate is worrying and alarming. Sedition has not just been used against opposition but against any person who is antithetical to this government. People who protested against CAA-NRC, those who brought up the issues of lack of oxygen cylinders during pandemic , farm law protestors, they had been attacked with the sedition."

"This BJP government has completed neglected the Supreme Court's last year observation on this," he said. The Law Commission’s report comes a year after the Supreme Court, on May 11, 2022, put the sedition law on hold and directed the central and state governments to refrain from registering any FIR or coercive measures under the law.

It also suspended all continuing investigations into cases filed under the law and ordered that all pending trials, appeals and proceedings related thereto be kept in abeyance. The ruling party has been accused of misusing the sedition law to quell political dissent while many in the opposition, academicians, lawyers and others viewing the colonial era law to be at loggerheads with the Constitution.

Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Friday said that the Government will hold consultations with all stakeholders before taking a final decision on sedition law. "The law commission report on Sedition is one of the steps in the extensive consultative process. The recommendations made in the report are persuasive and not binding. Ultimately, the final decision will be taken only after consulting all the stakeholders", he tweeted.

"Now that we have received the report, we will also hold consultations with all the other stakeholders so that we take an informed and reasoned decision in the public interes", he added. Former Law Secretary PK Malhotra on this row lauded the law commission and said that " I would like to compliment the Law Commission for coming out with its report on sedition law so expeditiously."

"Now the Law Commission has recommended what kind of safeguards need to be inbuilt and also what changes need to be made in the provision of Section 124A itself so that the law is not misused by the authorities which are responsible for executing this particular law...The are also recommending that to see that the law is not misused certain safeguards should be inbuilt...", he further added.