Supreme Court of India puts colonial sedition law into abeyance

621 journalists jailed for ‘sedition’ in the past 29 months

80
CJI NV Ramana |sedition
Supreme Court of India Chief Justice NV Ramana

In its order passed on 11 May 2022 in New Delhi, the Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Hima Kohli put the ancient sedition law enacted by the British in to suppress speech and action against the Indian independence movement in abeyance. The Supreme Court bench made clear in its order that it wanted the central and state governments not to use this law at all while it is under ‘review.’ The court also stayed all existing proceedings under the law.

The order says it is in line with what the Union government claimed in its affidavit, that the Narender Modi government thinks the colonial-era law is “not in line with the current social milieu.” Both petitioners and the attorney general of India pointed out instances when this law has been misused, the court noted. In light of this agreement, “it will be appropriate not to continue the usage of the aforesaid provision of law by the Governments,” the order says.

“We hope and expect that the State and Central Governments will restrain from registering any FIR, continuing any investigation or taking any coercive measures by invoking Section 124A of IPC while the aforesaid provision of law is under review,” the order says. If such cases are still filed, the bench said that affected parties may approach the courts for relief, sighting this particular order.

All pending trials, appeals, and proceedings in sedition cases have been put in abeyance, and the Union of India has also been given the liberty to “issue the Directive as proposed and placed before us, to the State Governments/Union Territories to prevent any misuse of Section 124A of IPC.”

On 18 March 1922, Mahatma Gandhi was convicted and imprisoned under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (‘sedition’) which makes it an offense to spread ‘hatred,’ ‘contempt’ or ‘disaffection’ against the Union. Gandhi remarked on the occasion, “I know that some of the most loved of India’s patriots have been convicted under it. I consider it a privilege, therefore, to be charged under that section.”

A journalist speaks out

When the Supreme Court put Section 124A of the IPC under abeyance on 11 May 2022, it is estimated (for lack of a more accurate figure) that the number of journalists charged with sedition under Section 124 A and jailed were 280 in 2020; 293 in 2021; and, 48 in the current year till February 2022.

Journalist and former editor Harish Khare has in his excellent article on 15 May 2022 (thewire.in) implored Justice Ramana to finish the job he has begun. He writes, “All he [Justice Ramana] has done is perhaps to gently nudge his colleagues back from the jurisprudence of complicity produced by two of his immediate predecessors. He seems to have reminded his fellow judges that the Supreme Court is not in the business of pleasing or displeasing the executive; it has one and only one obligation – to insist and ensure that institutions of power and authority operate only within the four walls of the constitution and its protocols of restraints and constraints on arbitrariness.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

Subscribe Now
Previous articlemanroland Goss at Printpack 2022
Next articleTharakan’s Grandhavari by Benyamin
Editor of Indian Printer and Publisher since 1979 and Packaging South Asia since 2007. Trained as an offset printer and IBM 360 computer programmer. Active in the movement to implement Indian scripts for computer-aided typesetting. Worked as a consultant and trainer to the Indian print and newspaper industry. Visiting faculty of IDC at IIT Powai in the 1990s. Also founder of IPP Services, Training and Research and has worked as its principal industry researcher since 1999. Author of book: Miracle of Indian Democracy.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here