Yashpal Kataria, MDU, CPAS, Gurugram
ABSTRACT
Sedition Law which has been mentioned in our IPC , 1860 finds its origin in the colonial rule . This clause was used by the Britisher’s to curb the voice of our brave freedom fighters . It was used as the tool by them crush our freedom movement . But even after being independent for 75 years this dark-one law is still present in the IPC of the independent India . Even after being granted Freedom of Speech and Expression under constitution in Article 19(1)(a) we are still not free to express our thoughts because of this law .
India though a democratic country for 75 years but still there are restriction on the people to express their thoughts freely , they are still scared that if government didn’t like their thoughts they would use the sedition law to harass them . As per World Press Freedom Index report of 2021 India is ranked at 142 from 180 countries and is ranked at 53 in the world democratic index report . A country cannot progress truly until the people are freely and without any threat are free to express their views regarding the policy and working of the government . One of the most essential condition of a true democratic country is people having the secured environment where they can point out what they don’t like about the government, if this environment cannot be secured to the general public then there is no meaning of democracy and the rule will somewhat become undemocratic even though the system of election would be there .
