Aisha Sultana’s statement amounts to sedition, HC told

The allegation by Aisha Sultana, filmmaker, that the Union government had used COVID-19 as a bio-weapon against the people of Lakshadweep prima facie amounts to an assertion prejudicial to national in

The allegation by Aisha Sultana, filmmaker, that the Union government had used COVID-19 as a bio-weapon against the people of Lakshadweep prima facie amounts to an assertion prejudicial to national integration, according to a statement filed by the Lakshadweep administration in the Kerala High Court in response to Ms. Sultana’s anticipatory bail petition in a sedition case. The statement filed by S. Manu, counsel for the administration and the Kavaratti police, pointed out that the assertion by the petitioner during a channel discussion could be prima facie considered as an attempt to incite disaffection among the people towards the Union government. It had the tendency to create disorder or disturbance of public peace by resorting to violence. Hence a crime had been registered for the offences under Sections 124 A (sedition) and 153 B (assertions against national integration) of Indian Penal Code. It was the duty of the police to register a crime when they had information on commission of cognizable offences.