As SC stays proceedings in sedition instances, Left events demand contentious legislation be scrapped

By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Left events on Wednesday demanded that the Supreme Court ought to scrap the sedition legislation altogether and never watch for the federal government to evaluate the identical.

The apex court docket on Wednesday placed on maintain the contentious legislation, stayed the registration of FIRs, ongoing probes and coercive measures on the matter throughout the nation till an “appropriate forum” of the federal government re-examines the colonial period penal legislation.

“The CPI(M) has at all times opposed the sedition legislation, saying it’s anachronistic, introduced in by the British to crush our freedom battle and it has no place within the statute books in unbiased India.

It’s good that the SC has now ordered that this part have to be saved in abeyance….The plea of the Modi authorities that it’ll evaluate the instances is specious as a result of it has been grossly misusing the sedition legislation to harass all dissent since 2014,” CPI(M) common secretary Sitaram Yechury stated at a press temporary right here.

“Since this government came to office, 326 people were arrested under the sedition law but only six of them have been convicted in the courts. This is a gross abuse of the law that has been taking place under the Modi government. This law should be scrapped and removed from the statute books,” he added.

The CPI issued a press release welcoming the decision by the Supreme Court and reiterated its demand to scrap the legislation. It claimed that the occasion’s constant place on this stood vindicated.

“The occasion notes that the apex court docket has even dominated that no new FIR will likely be lodged below this sedition legislation till the Centre re-examines the provisions of this British-era legislation, which has been challenged within the Supreme Court.

CPI common secretary D Raja in 2011 itself had moved a personal member’s Bill in Rajya Sabha demanding scrapping of part 124A of IPC, the sedition legislation clause, which is an anti-democratic dictatorial legislation which after over a decade, the best court docket of the nation has stayed for additional choices.

The directive of the Supreme Court on sedition legislation is vindication of the constant place of the CPI,” the assertion stated.