RAMANATHAPURAM
The Additional Sessions Court here has said the future generation would become a ‘herd of sheep’ if ‘gadflies’ failed to dissent and act against the government. “If Socrates, the gadfly of Athens, was given hemlock for his criticism against Nero for playing the fiddle when Rome was burning, the future generation will only become a herd of sheep,” Additional Sessions Judge D. Lingeswaran observed while acquitting Naam Tamilar Katchi leader Seeman and film director Ameer in a sedition case.
The judge said speeches, criticism, writing books and taking movies with any amount of strong criticism directed against the government would not be sedition or against the sovereignty of the country.
“A very strong speech directed to a very strong criticism of measures of government or acts of public officials would be outside the scope of sedition under Section 124A of Indian Penal Code,” the judge said quoting the Supreme Court judgement in the ‘Kedarnath Singh Vs the State of Bihar’ case.
Failing to take note of this order, the police had invoked Section 124A of the IPC against the two accused and the court accepted the argument of the defence that the police had foisted the case for political reasons and to suppress freedom of speech, the judge observed.
Hailing the judgement, Mr. Seeman and Mr. Ameer said it was a landmark judgement to be preserved and documented in the history. The judgement upholding freedom of speech would enthuse scores of Tamils who were fighting for the rights of the State and to protect the interests of the people, they said.
