What Does Sedition Mean In India? A Comparative Study Of The Indian Penal Code And BNS Bill 2023
- IJLLR Journal
- Oct 21, 2023
- 1 min read
What Does Sedition Mean In India? A Comparative Study Of The Indian Penal Code And Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill
Sneha M, Vellore Institute Technology (VIT School of Law), Chennai
Introduction
Over the course of the evolution of political communities, social beliefs and thoughts have found a stronger effect on the happenings of such communities. Sedition is one such facet wherein expressions are made by one to incite rebellion against legal authority. But, with the furtherance of this, there is a delicate interlink between individual’s freedoms of expression and the general upholding of public order.1 Now, to the question of what exactly is sedition, it is what may be described as a draconian2 principle wherein one is penalised for the expression of any matter which may consequently rouse any discontent, rebellion or agitation against what may be a legally established authority, like a government. The purpose of calling it draconian stems from the fact that sedition’s definition and the scope it leaves remains vague. Or, it previously was. This paper aims to analyse what sedition means to India, a country which claims that criticism of the ones in power is what lights the candle at the core of our democracy. It embarks on the journey to interpret the sedition laws under the current Penal Code while comparing it to the minute change of language in the new proposed Criminal Code bills by the Parliament, and its significant change in the interpretation of such statutes.
Keywords: Sedition, Free Speech, Penal, Democracy, Interpretation, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Incitement
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