Apex court puts Sedition law on hold

Supreme Court of India has decided to put on hold the use of a sedition law to allow its review by the federal government. 

A panel of three judges headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana stated that the law shall cease to operate till further orders. 

The apex court gave the direction after the government’s lawyer Tushar Mehta filed a plea in which he asked the bench to reconsider the Sedition law. 

Under the Sedition law, the punishment for the convict includes a maximum punishment of lifetime in jail for bringing hatred, contempt or disaffection toward the government.

So far, more than 13000 people are facing the sedition charges in India and majority of the cases were filed Prime Minister Narendra Modi ascended to prime ministerial chair 2014, according to data compiled by Article 14, a group run by journalists, lawyers and academics.

The bench also directed that no new sedition cases shall be lodged and no strongarm measure should be taken by police in pending cases.