Law commission in its’s 279th report has recommended to retain Section 124-A of IPC with certain amendments instead of repealing it. It suggested that ratio decidendi of Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar [AIR 1962 SC
9551] should be incorporated in the provision so as to bring about greater clarity regarding the usage of the provision.
- After the recommendation Section 124-A IPC should be read as follows:
124A. Sedition.-Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards, the Government established by law in India, with a tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment of either description for o term which may extend to seven years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.
Under Explanation 4, the expression “Tendency” was added to mean mere inclination lo incite violence or cause public disorder rather than proof of actual violence or imminent threat to violence.
2. Procedural Guidelines for Preventing any Alleged Misuse of Section I24A of IPC
To prevent any alleged misuse of Section 124A of IPC, it is suggested that a mandatory recourse similar to as provided under Section 196(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) should be undertaken prior to registration of a FIR with respect to commission of an offence under this section. This can be achieved by
introducing certain procedural safeguards that can be laid down by the Central Government through issuance of model guidelines in this regard. Alternatively, an amendment may be introduced in Section 154 of CrPC
by incorporating a proviso in the following manner:
” Provided further that no First Information Report for an offence under section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 shall be registered unless a police officer, not below the rank of Inspector, conducts a preliminary inquiry and on the basis of the report made by the said police officer the Central Government or the State Government, as the case may be, grants permission for registering a First Information Report. ”
The said police officer, not below the rank of Inspector, shall conduct a preliminary inquiry within seven days for the limited purpose of ascertaining as to whether a prima facie case is made out and some cogent evidence exists. The said police officer shall record the reasons for the same in writing and only thereafter, permission shall be granted under the aforesaid proposed proviso. This safeguard is being recommended by the Law Commission taking into consideration the observations made by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in S.G. Vombatkere v. Union of India.
3. It recommend that the scheme of punishment provided under Section 124-A be amended to
ensure that it is brought in parity with the other offences under Chapter VI of IPC.
Stay on Section 124-A of IPC
The constitutionality of Section l24A of IPC was challenged before the Hon’ble Supreme Court in S.G. Vombatkere v. Union of India [(2022) 7 SCC 433]. The Union of India assured the Hon’ble Supreme Court that it was re-examining Section l24A and the Court may not invest its valuable time in doing the same. Pursuant to the same and vide order passed on 11th May,2022, the Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the Central Government and all the State Governments to refrain from registering any FIR or taking any coercive measures. while suspending all continuing investigations in relation to Section 124A. Further, it also directed that all pending trials, appeals, and proceedings be kept in abeyance.
The report can be seen here – https://tellmetech.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023060150.pdf