{"id":249378,"date":"2021-06-07T09:03:03","date_gmt":"2021-06-07T03:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=249378"},"modified":"2021-06-11T10:26:51","modified_gmt":"2021-06-11T04:56:51","slug":"explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/","title":{"rendered":"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Supreme Court<\/strong>: Upholding the citizens\u2019 right to criticise the government, the bench of <strong>UU Lalit*<\/strong> and Vineet Saran, JJ, has quashed the FIR lodged against Journalist Vinod Dua over his YouTube show on communal riots in Delhi earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Court held,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201c\u2026 a citizen has a right to criticize or comment upon the measures undertaken by the Government and its functionaries, so long as he does not incite people to violence against the Government established by law or with the intention of creating public disorder; and that it is only when the words or expressions have pernicious tendency or intention of creating public disorder or disturbance of law and order that Sections 124A and 505 of the IPC must step in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>What was the controversy? <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the complaint, Dua had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using \u201cdeaths and terror attacks\u201d to get votes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The FIR read,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOn 30th March, 2020, Mr. Vinod Dua, in his show namely The Vinod Dua Show on YouTube, has made unfounded and bizarre allegations (details of particular moments are provided below) by stating following facts at 5 minutes and 9 seconds of the video, he has stated that Narendra Modi has used deaths and terror attacks to garner votes. At 5 minutes and 45 seconds of the video, he claims that the government does not have enough testing facilities and has made false statements about the availability of the Personal Protective Kits (PPE) and has stated that there is no sufficient information on those. Further, he also went on to state that ventilators and sanitizer exports were stopped only on 24th March 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the F.I.R. \u201c\u2026by making such false statements, Mr.Vinod Dua spread fear amongst the people. This video will only create a situation of unrest amongst the public which will result in panic and people not obeying the lockdown to come out and hoard essentials which is absolutely unnecessary.\u2026. The rumours were spread with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public or to any section of the public, whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquillity.\u201d<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Why no case of sedition was made out against Dua? <\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Deaths and terror attacks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The statements attributed to Dua that the Prime Minister had used deaths and terror attacks to garner votes or that the Prime Minister had garnered votes through acts of terrorism, were not made in the Talk Show. No such assertions find place in the true translation nor were any objections raised that the translated version was in any way incorrect. The petitioner did say that the air strikes by India on Balakot and attacks on Pathankot and Pulwama were used as political events to garner votes but no allegations were made against the Prime Minister as was stated in the F.I.R.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>COVID-19 Testing facilities<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Considering the size of the population of this country, the testing facilities to gauge and check the spread and effect of the Pandemic, at least in the initial stages of the surge, were not exactly adequate. If in that light, the petitioner made any comments about testing facilities or PPE Suits, N-95 masks and masks of ply, those comments in first two statements, cannot be anything other than appraisal of the situation then obtaining.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Migrant workers<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As on 30.03.2020, migrant workers in huge numbers were moving towards their hometowns\/villages. In the circumstances, there would naturally be some apprehension about the shelter and food to be provided to them en-route. The former Chief Statistician had expressed a possibility with the intent to invite the attention of the authorities.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">If Dua, in his talk show uploaded on 30.03.2020, that is even before the matter was taken up by the Supreme Court, made certain assertions, <strong>he would be within his rights to say that as a Journalist he was touching upon issues of great concern so that adequate attention could be bestowed to the prevailing problems. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It cannot be said that the petitioner was spreading any false information or rumours.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt is not the case of the respondents that the migrant workers started moving towards their hometowns\/villages purely as a result of the statements made by the petitioner. Such movement of migrant workers had begun long before.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the circumstances, these statements can neither be taken to be an attempt to incite migrant workers to start moving towards their hometowns or villages nor can it be taken to be an incitement for causing any food riots. The situation was definitely alarming around 30.03.2020 and as a journalist if the petitioner showed some concern, could it be said that he committed offences as alleged.<\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the Court, only such activities which would be intended or have a tendency to create disorder or disturbance of public peace by resort to violence \u2013 are rendered penal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Based on the aforementioned analysis of the statements, the Court said that the said statements,<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201ccan at best be termed as expression of disapprobation of actions of the Government and its functionaries so that prevailing situation could be addressed quickly and efficiently. They were certainly not made with the intent to incite people or showed tendency to create disorder or disturbance of public peace by resort to violence.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hence, the prosecution of Dua for the offences punishable under Sections 124A and 505 (1) (b) of the IPC3 would be unjust. Those offences, going by the allegations in the FIR and other attending circumstances, are not made out at all and any prosecution in respect thereof would be violative of the rights of the petitioner guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">[Vinod Dua v. Union of India, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/RZiApML1\"><b>2021 SCC OnLine SC 414<\/b><\/a>, decided on 03.06.2021]<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Judgment by: Justice UU Lalit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Petitioner: Vikas Singh, Senior Advocate<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Respondents: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General S.V. Raju, Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethamalani and Vinay Navre<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8230; a citizen has a right to criticize or comment upon the measures undertaken by the Government and its functionaries &#8230; &#8220;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":243203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[42901,3483,14261,46147,3254,41905],"class_list":["post-249378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-supremecourt","tag-free-speech","tag-freedom_of_speech_and_expression","tag-penal-code","tag-section-124a","tag-sedition","tag-vinod-dua"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua? | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&quot;... a citizen has a right to criticize or comment upon the measures undertaken by the Government and its functionaries ... &quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-06-07T03:33:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-06-11T04:56:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1331\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"888\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Prachi Bhardwaj\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Prachi Bhardwaj\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/\",\"name\":\"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua? | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-06-07T03:33:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-06-11T04:56:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de579aff4bc6dd24b68d6d472ac92942\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg\",\"width\":1331,\"height\":888},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de579aff4bc6dd24b68d6d472ac92942\",\"name\":\"Prachi Bhardwaj\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Prachi-Image2-150x150.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Prachi-Image2-150x150.png\",\"caption\":\"Prachi Bhardwaj\"},\"description\":\"Senior Associate Editor\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_3\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua? | SCC Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua?","og_description":"\"... a citizen has a right to criticize or comment upon the measures undertaken by the Government and its functionaries ... \"","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2021-06-07T03:33:03+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-06-11T04:56:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1331,"height":888,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Prachi Bhardwaj","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/","name":"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua? | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg","datePublished":"2021-06-07T03:33:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-06-11T04:56:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de579aff4bc6dd24b68d6d472ac92942"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg","width":1331,"height":888},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/06\/07\/explained-why-no-case-of-sedition-was-made-out-against-journalist-vinod-dua\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Explained: Why no case of sedition was made out against journalist Vinod Dua?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/de579aff4bc6dd24b68d6d472ac92942","name":"Prachi Bhardwaj","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Prachi-Image2-150x150.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Prachi-Image2-150x150.png","caption":"Prachi Bhardwaj"},"description":"Senior Associate Editor","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_3\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":230894,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/06\/14\/vinod-dua-sedition-case-in-a-special-sunday-hearing-sc-retrains-hp-police-from-arresting-vinod-dua-till-july-6\/","url_meta":{"origin":249378,"position":0},"title":"Vinod Dua sedition case| In a special Sunday hearing, SC retrains HP police from arresting Vinod Dua till July 6","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"June 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: In a relief to journalist Vinod Dua, the 3-judge bench of\u00a0 U U Lalit, M M Shantanagoudar and Vineet Saran, JJ, in a special hearing on Sunday restrained the Himachal Pradesh police from arresting him till July 6 in a sedition case lodged against him in the state\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/Supreme-Court_Colour.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":247838,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/05\/04\/supreme-court-to-decide-constitutionality-of-section-124a-ipc-read-why-it-came-into-force-and-why-5-judge-bench-in-kedar-nath-singh-verdict-found-it-constitutional\/","url_meta":{"origin":249378,"position":1},"title":"Supreme Court to decide constitutionality of Section 124A IPC. Read why it came into force and why 5-judge bench in Kedar Nath Singh verdict found it constitutional","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"May 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: The 3-judge bench of UU Lalit, Indira Banerjee and KM Joseph, JJ has issued notice in a plea seeking declaration of Section 124-A IPC to as unconstitutional and void. The order came after Senior Advocate Colin Gonalves submitted before the Court that the decision of the Court in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-3-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-3-3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-3-3.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-3-3.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-3-3.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":244053,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/02\/19\/sedition\/","url_meta":{"origin":249378,"position":2},"title":"J&#038;K HC | \u201cObjectionable conversation, demeaning armed forces in the backdrop of Galwan Valley clashes\u201d, HC acquits the person behind viral audio clip","author":"Editor","date":"February 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Jammu and Kashmir High Court: Sanjeev Kumar, J., addressed the instant petition whereby the petitioner was charged for sedition under Sections 124-A, 153-A, 153-B and 505(2), 120-B of IPC in connection with a viral audio clip containing demeaning content regarding armed forces. The Bench said, \u201c\u2026unless the conversation has the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6544,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2015\/03\/23\/mere-criticism-is-not-seditious\/","url_meta":{"origin":249378,"position":3},"title":"Mere Criticism is not Seditious","author":"Sucheta","date":"March 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Bombay High Court: In a major relief to cartoonist Aseem Trivedi, a bench comprising of Mohit Shah, CJ and N.M. Jamdar, J has held that citizens have the right to say or write anything criticizing the government and its measures as far as it does not incite violence or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;High Courts&quot;","block_context":{"text":"High Courts","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/highcourts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Free-Speech.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Free-Speech.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Free-Speech.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Free-Speech.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Free-Speech.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":266757,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/05\/11\/sedition-law-review-section-124a-pending-trials-fresh-cases-stay-supreme-court-india-judgment-law-legal-research-updates-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":249378,"position":4},"title":"Sedition Law under scanner| All pending cases to be kept in abeyance; Centre\/States urged not to register fresh cases till Section 124A is reviewed: SC","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"May 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Supreme Court: In the petitions challenging the Constitutionality of Section 124A of the Penal Code 1860 dealing with the offence of Sedition, the 3-judge bench of NV Ramana, CJ and Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, JJ has urged the State and Central Governments to restrain from registering any FIR, continuing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-169.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-169.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-169.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/MicrosoftTeams-image-169.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":249044,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2021\/05\/31\/free-press-need-to-interpret-sedition-law-in-context-of-freedom-of-media-no-coercive-steps-against-tv5-abn-till-next-hearing-supreme-court\/","url_meta":{"origin":249378,"position":5},"title":"Free Press| Need to interpret sedition law in context of freedom of media; No coercive steps against TV5, ABN till next hearing: Supreme Court","author":"Prachi Bhardwaj","date":"May 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The two channels had broadcasted certain programmes wherein Raghurama Krishnam Raju, Member of Parliament had allegedly expressed views critical of the State Government and the Chief Minister. While Raju, has been named as the first accused, TV5 and ABN have been named as the second and third accused.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/sc-2-7.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249378","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}