Prashant Bhushan's NGO moves SC against 'misuse, misapplication' of sedition laws

Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan's NGO Common Cause on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court challenging the "misuse and misapplication" of sedition laws in the country.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Bhushan says that the sedition law is rampantly abused to instil fear, causing persecution of students, journalists, intellectuals engaging in social activism.

The PIL also says that sedition laws are used as a tool to scuttle dissent and actions which do not involve violence or tendency to create public disorder do not constitute the offence of sedition.

Seeking a review of all pending sedition cases, the PIL sought a clarification from the apex court on reviewing all sedition charges invoked in most cases, as the law is being misused in the present times even without the aspect of "inciting to violence to overthrow state" being present.

The PIL also seeks direction making it compulsory for the authority to produce reasoned order from the DGP before an FIR is filed against a person.

This development comes in the wake of a sedition case registered against Amnesty International India in connection with the alleged raising of independence slogans by pro-freedom Kashmiris.

Reacting to the FIR filed by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Amnesty International India in a statement said the allegations mentioned in the complaint are without substance, adding it is an attempt to prevent the families of victims of human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir from having their stories heard.