The sedition case against former Jawaharlal Nehru University students’ union president Kanhaiya Kumar could turn into a power tussle between the Lieutenant-Governor and the Delhi government with legal experts divided over who has the power to grant prosecution sanction.
Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave said: “It has to be granted by the Delhi government and not the Lieutenant-Governor. It is the democratically elected government, which has the power to sanction.”
Former Additional Solicitor General and senior Advocate Indira Jaising also opined that the prosecution sanction should be granted by the government.
On the other hand, senior Advocate Vikas Singh said: “This is a matter relating to law and order and policy. Therefore it has to go to the Lieutenant-Governor. Additionally, the police are also under the L-G hence the prosecution sanction power is with him.”
Sedition laws
Sedition laws in India are spelled out in Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code. It makes it punishable for a person to “by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise”, bring into hatred or disaffection towards the government.
A person convicted of sedition could face punishment of up to three years imprisonment.
Section 196 of the Code of Criminal Procedure bars a court from taking cognisance of any offence against the State including those punishable under the sedition laws without express sanction from the central government or of the state government.
Consent to sanction
The provision states that the Central or the State government may, before giving consent to sanction, order a preliminary investigation by a police officer not being below the rank of Inspector.
Published - February 07, 2019 01:45 am IST
