Need Sedition Law, Says Law Commission, Cites "Glaring Ground Realities"
NDTV
The Commission has also recommended that the punishment for sedition be increased from three years in jail to a life term or up to seven years in prison.
The Law Commission has strongly backed the sedition law and has said it should be retained with changes linked to the circumstances of its use. Repealing the law - Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code - would be to "turn a blind eye to the glaring ground realities existing in India," the Commission has said in its report to the government.
The Commission has also recommended that the punishment for sedition be increased from three years in jail to a life term or up to seven years in prison.
The sedition law was challenged before the Supreme Court, which last year suspended criminal trials and court proceedings under the law while allowing the government to reexamine it. The government then asked the Law Commission to review the law.
The Law Commission, in its report, says repealing the sedition law altogether can have "serious adverse ramifications for the security and integrity of the country, with the subversive forces getting a free hand to further their sinister agenda as a consequence.
