AN INSIGHT INTO THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF THE SECTION-124A
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Abstract
We have inherited many laws from the colonial regime and as it is said every coin has two side. When see the flip side or the problematic side of inheritance of this law than there are many laws which need the constitutional scrutiny and one such law is the Section 124A1 of Indian Penal Code that is SEDITION. As stated in KENNY- the Law of Sedition relates to the uttering of the seditious words, the publication of seditious libels, and conspiracies to do an act for the furtherance of a seditious intention. Sedition, whether by words spoken or written, or by conduct, is a misdemeanour at common law punishable by fine and imprisonment. It in itself is a comprehensive term, and it embraces all those practices, whether by word, deed, or writing, which are calculated to disturb the tranquillity of the state2. The offence is closely allied to treason - an offence against the state. HALSBURY lays down that the essence of the offence of treason lies in the violation of the allegiance owed to the sovereign. This law was first introduced in the colonial period to curb down the rising voice of people against the government. Earlier this law was not a part of IPC which was drafted by Thomas Babington
Macaulay3 in 1837. Sedition was originally enumerated under Section 113 of Macaulay’s Draft Penal Code of 1837-39, but it was only in 1870 that the provision for sedition was inserted by the IPC (Amendment) Act. After the enactment of IPC in 1860, it was then a decade later
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