326 sedition cases filed in India between 2014-19; only 6 convictions: MHA

A total of 326 cases were registered in the country under the controversial colonialera penal law on sedition between 2014 and 2019 in which just six persons were convictedThe Supreme Court last week observed that Section 124 A of the IPC offence of sedition has been enormously misused and asked the Centre why it was not repealing the provision used by the British to silence people like Mahatma Gandhi to suppress the freedom movementAccording to the Union Home Ministry data a total of 326 cases were registered under the sedition law between 2014 and 2019 with the highest 54 cases in AssamOut of these cases charge sheets were filed in 141 cases while just six people were convicted for the offence during the sixyear periodThe data of 2020 has not been compiled by the home ministry yet officials saidIn Assam out of the 54 sedition cases registered charge sheets were filed in 26 cases and trials were completed in 25 casesHowever there has not been a single conviction in the state in any of the cases between 2014 and 2019 the data saysJharkhand has registered 40 cases under Section 124 A of IPC during the six years in which charge sheets were filed in 29 cases and trials were completed in 16 cases in which just one person has been convictedAlso read lsquoWhy arenrsquot you scrapping sedition lawrsquoIn Haryana 31 cases were registered under the sedition law in which charge sheets were filed in 19 cases and trials were completed in six cases in which just one person has been convictedBihar Jammu and Kashmir and Kerala have registered 25 cases eachWhile Bihar and Kerala could not file a charge sheet in any of the cases Jammu and Kashmir filed a charge sheet in three cases However no one was convicted in any of the three states between 2014 and 2019As many as 22 sedition cases were filed in Karnataka in which charge sheets were filed in 17 cases but the trial could be completed in just one case However no one was convicted in any case in the periodA total of 17 sedition cases were filed in Uttar Pradesh and eight in West Bengal between 2014 and 2019While charge sheets were filed in eight cases in UP and five cases in West Bengal no one was convicted in the two statesIn Delhi four sedition cases were registered between 2014 and 2019 but no charge sheet has been filed in any caseNo sedition case was filed in states and UTs of Meghalaya Mizoram Tripura Sikkim Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lakshadweep Puducherry Chandigarh Daman and Diu Dadra and Nagar Haveli in the six yearsOne each sedition case was filed in three states Maharashtra in 2015 Punjab 2015 and Uttarakhand 2017According to the home ministry data 2019 saw the highest number of 93 sedition cases registered in the country followed by 70 in 2018 51 in 2017 47 in 2014 35 in 2016 and 30 in 2015While 40 charge sheets were filed in the country in 2019 under the sedition law 38 were filed in 2018 27 in 2017 16 in 2016 14 in 2014 and six in 2015Among the six convicted two were sentenced in 2018 and one each in 2019 2017 2016 and 2014 No one was convicted in 2015On July 15 a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana agreed to examine the pleas filed by the Editors Guild of India and a former major general challenging the Constitutionality of Section 124A sedition in the IPCThe court said its main concern was the misuse of law leading to the rise in the number of casesThe nonbailable provision makes any speech or expression that brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India a criminal offence punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonmentMr Attorney General we want to ask some questions This is the colonialera law and the same law was used by the British to suppress the freedom movement It was used by the British to silence Mahatma Gandhi Gokhale and othersIs it still necessary to keep this in statute even after 75 years of independence asked the bench which also comprised justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh RoyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever