It is gratifying to note that the Supreme Court, while indicating its intention to reconsider the sedition provision in the Indian Penal Code, has raised the question most relevant to the issue: “Why does Section 124A continue in the statute book even after 75 years of independence?” Chief Justice N. V. Ramana has also pointed to the rampant misuse of the section by the police across the country, and reminded the government that it was a legal provision that the colonial regime had used to suppress the freedom movement. The issues flagged by the Chief Justice of India may set the tone for what would be a comprehensive reconsideration of a section that has been frequently and wrongfully used, especially in the last few years, to suppress dissent, criminalise strident political criticism and taint opponents with the tag of being ‘anti-national’. Even though it is often argued that the misuse of a law alone does not render it invalid, there is a special case to strike down Section 124A
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Fresh daily cases of the coronavirus, globally, after touching a new peak of over 0.9 million on April 28, began to drop steadily, reaching a low point on June 21, when only over 0.3 million cases were reported. But there has been a rise in cases, again globally, since then. July 15 saw 0.53 million daily cases and the second week of the month witnessed nearly three million new cases. A total of 188.9 million cases have been reported worldwide as on July 15, driven in most countries by the highly transmissive Delta variant. A total of 111 countries now have this variant. Brazil, India, Indonesia, the U.K. and Colombia have reported the most cases in the past week, with the sharpest increase being in Zimbabwe (72%), Indonesia (44%), the U.S. (38%), Bangladesh (35%), and the U.K. (30%). Many Asian countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, South Korea and Japan, where the spread was under control, have also been reporting a high number of daily cases. Indonesia has seen a surge in new
- 2hrs
