India puts hold on harsh sedition law used to stifle critics
ABC News
India’s top court has put the country’s colonial-era sedition law on hold
NEW DELHI -- India’s top court put the country’s colonial-era sedition law on hold Wednesday. Critics say the government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi was increasingly using it to silence criticism and dissent.
The Supreme Court order asked the Indian government and state authorities to refrain from registering fresh cases under the harsh law while it was under review and allowed accused people detained under it to seek bail from courts.
“It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further reexamination is over,” the three-judge bench headed by India’s Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said in New Delhi.
The order also put on hold all pending cases, appeals and proceedings with respect to charges framed under the 152-year-old law.
