STOCK MARKET LIVE BSE NSE

SC rejects PIL, says 'Dissent cannot be termed sedition'

NEW DELHI: Observing that the expression of views that are different from the opinion of the government cannot be termed seditious, the Supreme Court (SC) today dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking action against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah for making statements against the scrapping of Article 370.

The PIL was filed by petitioners Rajat Sharma and Neh Srivastava against the National Conference (NC) leader's remarks on the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 in the former state of Jammu and Kashmir which is now a Union Territory. The petition had also alleged that Abdullah sought help from Pakistan and China against India on the matter.

The SC bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta affirmed that citizens cannot be prosecuted just because they have expressed their opinion which is not in conformity with government policies 

Despite the courts' observations, when the advocates for the petitioners' Shiv Sagar Tiwari argued that Abdullah made grave errors in making statements against the country by saying that he will get restored Article 370 which was passed by Parliament, and pleaded that he must be punished for sedition, the bench got enraged and said that penal action should be taken against the petitioner for filing a frivolous petition.

During the course of proceedings when the bench asked the petitioner's advocates to produce the alleged statement of Abdullah they failed to do so but referred to a statement quoting Abdullah by a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson, further enraging the judges which went on to dismiss the plea.

While it dismissed the petition, the bench also slapped a fine of Rs 50,000 on the petitioners for failing to substantiate the allegations made in the litigation and asked them to deposit the amount in the advocates’ welfare fund.

Reporter

  • EP News Service
    EP News Service

    Crisp, and to the point news coverage from India and around the world.

    View Reporter News

Related News