‘Victory…’: Mahua Moitra tweets after Supreme Court puts sedition law on hold

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra tweeted Wednesday afternoon after the Supreme Court put on hold the 152-year-old sedition law as it emphasised the need to preserve the civil liberty of Indians. “Victory! Supreme Court stays Sec 124A- no new cases can be filed, existing cases can apply for bail & release immediately,” Moitra tweeted. In an earlier tweet she had said: “Great day for democracy. The sedition law stands stayed. Kudos to the Supreme Court.”

Lawyer and activist Prashant Bhushan also tweeted, saying: “Salute to the SC for this fine interim order preventing the rampant misuse of the sedition law.”

The Trinamool MP – who is among those to have filed petitions challenging the validity of the sedition law – has been following the top court hearings closely. Hours before the historic ruling she tweeted on a comment by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is appearing for the government.

“You are right, Sir. Nehru could not lie in court, spy on countrymen, arrest innocents, lock up dissenters with no due process. The list is a long one,” she said in response to Mehta’s remark – “What Pandit Nehru could not do, current government is doing” – from inside the court.

Last week she also hit out at Mehta for seeking additional time to file the government’s reply to the petitions challenging the sedition law. “Shameful how Solicitor General wakes up every morning & comes to court only to stall hearings and buy time for GoI in the most urgent cases. He says he still needs more time to file a reply! Hilarious if it were not so tragic,” she declared.

Earlier today the Constitution bench of the top court, led by Chief Justice NV Ramana, passed an interim order that said it would not be appropriate for the law to be invoked even as it faces a constitutional challenge, and that those booked under Section 124A could approach courts for relief.

Supreme Court puts 152-year-old colonial-era sedition law on hold

“We hope and expect that Centre and states will restrain from registering fresh FIRs under Section 124A…” the interim order by a bench also consisting of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli.

Sedition law: 5 key points from Supreme Court’s decision on Section 124A

The court said those jailed, or being currently prosecuted, can approach the trial courts to adjudicate their grievances expeditiously.

It also rejected the government’s arguments against staying the sedition law. It said it had to balance civil liberties and sovereignty of the State in the wake of several instances of abuse of the law.

The court also said the government was at liberty to issue additional guidelines to state and union territories to check instances of misuse of the sedition law.

After the decision, union law minister Kiren Rijiju told reporters: “We’ve made our positions very clear and also informed the court about intention of our PM. We respect the court and its independence. But there’s a ‘Lakshman Rekha’ (line) that must be respected by all organs of the state in letter and spirit.”

The reference to ‘Lakshman Rekha’ comes two weeks after the Chief Justice said the Constitution provides for separation of power among the three organs of the State and that one should be mindful of the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ while discharging their duty.

With input from ANI