Supreme Court issues notice to Centre on plea challenging sedition law

The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the Centre on a plea challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 124-A of the IPC that penalises sedition.

A bench of Justices U U Lalit, Indira Banerjee and K M Joseph sought the Centre’s response on a plea by two journalists—Kishorechandra Wangkhemcha from Manipur and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla from Chhattisgarh.

The petitioners said they were charged with sedition for questioning the state governments and the Centre, and for comments and cartoons shared on social media platforms. They contended that the provision infringes upon the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression, guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.