Law Commission reviewing sedition law, working on amendments: Rajnath Singh

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The recommendations were not made in connection with the current row over the sedition case against arrested JNU students Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid, Anirban Bhattacharya.

New Delhi: Just a day after High Court rapped Delhi Police and questioned the force whether it knows what "sedition" means, Home Minister Rajnath Singh informed Lok Sabha on Tuesday that the government is reviewing the sedition law. Rajnath informed the House that the Law Commission is looking into making amendments to the law.

However, the recommendations were not made in connection with the current row over the sedition case against arrested Jawaharlal Nehru University students Kanhaiya Kumar, Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.

Lok Sabha MP MD Rajesh had raised a question whether the government had taken serious note of allegations of widespread abuse and arbitrary use of sedition law by police across the country. In reply to the same, Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said the Ministry of Law and Justice had asked the Law Commission to study the sedition law and IPC, and in 2014 they had informed about certain focus areas.

While the government quoted the findings of the report of 2014, no current data was shared in connection with the recent sedition charges against the JNU students.

A jury formed by the Supreme Court is reviewing whether the law needs to be amended. The focus area is on the words stated in the law "act against the state". The sedition law as interpreted by Supreme Court is that mere sloganeering is not enough to attract the charge of sedition and that there needs to be an indication of incitement of violence. The review thus is to see if the wording of the law needs to be amended.

Section 124-A of the Constitution which is the Sedition Law states, "Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards. 2[*] the Government established by law in 3[India], 4[* * *] shall be punished with 5[imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine."