New Delhi: The Congress in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday accused the Centre of misusing the sedition law, mentioning the arrest of 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi by the Delhi police in the infamous ‘toolkit’ case.
The Centre was also asked if it was planning to dilute the law, in light of the observations made by a Delhi court while granting bail to Ravi.
According to the News Minute, Congress MP Manish Tewari said, “The latest manifestation of misuse of this law is the Disha Ravi case. The minister should read the judgment which makes it very obvious that the Delhi Police absolutely and miserably failed to produce any evidence linked to the charge of sedition. Given the law is misused as demonstrated by your figures, will the government further narrow down the scope of the application of Section 124A.”
Granting bail to Ravi, additional sessions judge Dharmendra Rana had observed, “The offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of the governments.”
File photo of environmental activist Disha Ravi. Photo: Mid-Day
Tewari added that Section 124A was being misused to suppress freedom of expression.
Responding to the question, Kishan Reddy said that a committee on Criminal Law Reforms under the chairmanship of the vice-chancellor, National Law University, Delhi was formed in February 2020. “Union home minister Amit Shah has written to the chief ministers of all states, judicial officers, various varsities and law universities, law institutes seeking suggestions on the proposed amendments. After the report is prepared, it will be discussed in parliament,” the minister added.
During the question hour, Congress member from Telangana A. Revanth Reddy sought the number of cases registered under the offence of sedition across the country during the last 10 years, the conviction rate and the steps taken for their speedy trial.
The focus of his question was on climate activist Disha Ravi and cases registered against farmer union leaders after the January 26 violence in the national capital.
Kishan Reddy tabled a written response to the question in the House, saying that 47 cases of sedition were registered in 2014; 30 in 2015; 35 in 2016; 51 in 2017; 70 in 2018 and 93 in 2019.
“There is no direct involvement of the Centre in sedition cases,” the minister said, saying law and order is a state subject. He said that the Delhi police, which is controlled by the Union home ministry, has not filed many sedition cases.
This claim was similar to the Centre’s defence of the US-based think tank Freedom House’s criticism that the sedition law is being misused. However, as The Wire‘s analysis showed, this claim is deceptive.
Also Read: Why the Modi Government Must Undo Nehru’s Legacy By Scrapping the Sedition Law
However, Revanth Reddy was not satisfied with the response. He said he had sought details for the past 10 years, but the information was provided only from 2014-2019. He said, “Giving half information is taking the house towards a wrong direction.”
He added that after 2014, anyone who criticises the government’s policy is charged with sedition.
“In 2019, the conviction rate (for sedition) was 3.3%. This means these are politically motivated cases. If a youth leader is booked for sedition and the cases drags for 4-5 year, he/she is not in a position to get a job, passport, visa. Activists like Disha Ravi are charged, but they are not able to prove anything in the court,” Revanth Reddy said.
He also asked whether there is a proposal to drop “false charges” against farmer union leaders protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws.
Kishan Reddy said that information was not provided before 2014 because the UPA government did not maintain any separate data on sedition cases.
Reddy also accused the Congress of misusing the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) against opposition leaders such as Jayaprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, asking it not to “lecture” others about democracy.