With the Opposition targeting the Centre after the Supreme Court’s stay on the sedition law, the BJP on Wednesday said the order must be viewed in the context of the overall positive suggestion of the government that it wishes to examine the matter which has been “duly accepted” by the court.
The Modi government took a “historic” decision to correct the blunder of previous Congress governments, the BJP said and alleged that other parties have abused the sedition law when in power.
Party spokesperson Nalin Kohli noted that the Modi government has so far removed over 1,500 archaic and obsolete laws and over 25,000 compliances to make citizens’ lives easier.
Echoing the view, another BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia noted the government’s affidavit that it would review the matter involving the law and claimed that the dispensation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown courage and willpower to advance freedom of expression.
No previous government did it, he said, accusing opposition parties like the Congress and Shiv Sena of abusing the sedition law, and cited its use recently against MP Navneet Rana and her MLA husband Ravi Rana in Mumbai to make his point.
People, including journalists, have been arrested in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh for criticising the government, he said, slamming opposition leader Rahul Gandhi for his “silence” on the law’s misuse in these states.
He said the central government took a “historic” decision to correct the “historic” blunder of previous Congress governments.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju also targeted the Congress, calling it an”antithesis” of freedom, democracy and respect for institutions.
“It was the Indira Gandhi government which made Section 124A a cognisable offence for the first time in India’s history. This happened in the new Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 which came into force in 1974. Has Congress checked its own past actions?” the BJP leader wondered.
In its significant order on the sedition law that has been under intense public scrutiny, a bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said there was a need to balance the interest of civil liberties and the interests of citizens with that of the State.
The bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, stayed all proceedings in sedition cases while directing the Centre and states to not register any fresh FIR invoking sedition charges until the sedition law is “under reconsideration”.
The government in an earlier affidavit had said that it was willing to consider the issues involving the law.
Referring to the affidavit, Kohli said, “The Supreme Court order must be viewed with the overall positive suggestions of the government that it wishes to examine the matter. It has been duly accepted by the court.”
The Congress has hailed the Supreme Court’s decision, saying a clear-cut message has gone to subjugators of dissent that “you can no longer suppress the voice of truth” and those critical of the government must be heard.
The Left parties have demanded that the Supreme Court scrap the sedition law altogether, alleging it has been misused during the BJP rule.
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