From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday fixed the final hearing on Tuesday on the reference of the sedition law to a larger Bench of five or seven judges, asking the Centre to file its affidavit latest by Monday.
“Both sides have to file their written submissions by Saturday while the Centre needs to file its counter affidavit on merit by Monday,” a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said. Two other judges on the Bench were Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for one of the petitioners. told the court that the sedition law must go since it is contrary to the idea of free India as every day a journalist or anyone else is sent to jail. The law pertaining to Section 124-A of the IPC is unconstitutional, he added.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought an adjournment of the hearing since the draft response on sedition law has been prepared by the lawyers and it requires an approval by the competent authority. He said the government is taking a holistic view on the law.
The Supreme Court said it will hear the matter on Tuesday as to whether the petitions against the constitutionality of sedition law be referred to a larger Bench for reconsidering the 5-judge bench’s verdict in Kedar Nath Singh against the State of Bihar.
Mehta said: “I am conscious we (Central government) were directed to file a reply in the sedition issue and there were two reasons why we didn’t file the reply. “We are waiting for an approval of the competent authority, that’s why this delay,” he said, without elaborating who is the competent authority.
On the Bench asking whether the sedition law should be diluted, Attorney General K K Venugopal said: “The law should be taken care of, not removed and not misused. The Supreme Court should pass a guideline regarding the sedition law.” He said it was up to the court to fix a date for hearing.
