New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the central government for the legal requirements of incitement even after 75 years of independence of the country, observing that it was “colonial law used against freedom fighters”.
The bench headed by the Chairman of the Indian Judge NV Ramana asked why the law could not be revoked.
“Your government has revoked a lot of stale laws, I do not know why the government does not look into the departing section of 124A (which is related to incitement violations) from the IPC?” Cji Ramana asked the Attorney General for KK Venugopal.
Further bench asked, “This is a colonial law.
It was intended to suppress the same freedom and legal movement used by Britain against Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
Is this law still needed after 75 years of independence?” The chairman of justice said that the APEX court would look into the application to challenge the constitutional validity of section 124a.
“The situation on the ground is a grave.
If one party does not like what the others say, section 124a is used.
This is a serious threat to individual and party functions,” the Top Court observed.
“The use of incitable law is like giving a saw to a carpenter to cut a piece of wood, and he uses it to cut throughout the forest itself,” said the court, adding that it was concerned about the misuse of such laws.
By taking the example section of the 66a, which was beaten by the court but the people were arrested, Bench said, “There is misuse of these provisions, but there is no accountability.” The Attorney General represents the central government told the bench that section 124a does not need to be hit and only the guidelines need to be established so that the section fulfills its legal objectives.
The top trial further told the Attorney General that the level of confidence under Section 124a was very low.
“Take the 66A acting, thousands of cases are registered even after being shocked.
If there are police who want to improve someone, it can beg for part 124a too.
Everyone is a little afraid when this section is called.
It’s all the problems that need to be seen.
Our concern is legal abuse And there is no executive accountability, “said Chairman of Justice.
Meanwhile, the bench also issued a notification to the tree center submitted by former army officers who challenge the constitutional validity of the incolition law.
It also marks this application along with other similar pending requests.
The bench observed that the applicant in this case had sacrificed his entire life for the country in service and could not be said that he was a motivated petition.
Application, submitted by retirees General SG Vombatere challenges constitutional validity of incitement law in the field so that it causes ‘cold effects’ to speech and is an unreasonable restriction in free expression, fundamental rights.
He handed over that part of the 124a of Indian Criminal Code, which relates to incitement violations, was completely unconstitutional and must be ‘beat firmly and not ambiguous’.
Previously, a different bench from the upper Court had been looking for a response from the center of the application that challenged the constitutional validity of incitement law, submitted by two journalists – Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla – working in Manipur and Chhattisgarh.