Published Dec 21, 2023 | 4:54 PM ⚊ Updated Dec 21, 2023 | 4:54 PM
Union Home Minister Amit Shah speaking in the Lok Sabha.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, on Wednesday, 20 December, slammed the Opposition for its “coloured” view of the government’s decision to scrap the sedition law and replace the section with “offences against the state”.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the three Bills to replace colonial-era criminal laws, Shah said that the government had made a clear distinction between the British-era definition of sedition (rajdroh offences against the government) and “deshdroh” offences against the state.
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code has been replaced with Section 152 in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and sedition has been replaced with “offences against the state” (deshdroh).
“These people (Opposition) try to misrepresent our move to scrap the provision for sedition and replace it with offences against the state,” Shah said, referring to the almost empty Opposition benches.
AIMIM leaders Asaduddin Owaisi and Imtiaz Jaleel, YSRCP, and BJD members were present on the Opposition benches.
“The sedition law introduced by the British continued till today. They (Opposition) used to oppose the law, but when in power, they misused the law, never spoke of repealing it,” Shah said.
“We are an independent nation, in a democracy; anybody can criticise the government. Everybody has the right to criticise the government. Now, nobody will have to go to jail for criticising the government, even if it is our government,” Shah said.
“But nobody can speak against the nation, nobody can harm the interests of the nation. The flag of this country, the borders of this country, the resources of this country…If anybody messes with the resources of this country, then definitely he will go to jail,” Shah said.
He asserted that the security of the country should be above everything else. “It should be supreme. ‘Nation first’ should be our principle,” he charged.
The Home Minister said that the IPC did not define sedition, its purpose, or intent, but the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has.
“If the intent is to indulge in offences against the nation, then one should get the strictest of punishment. But if the intention is to speak against the government, then there should be no action as freedom of expression exists,” Shah said.
He said the words “attempts to bring hatred or contempt against the government” in the previous section have been replaced with “secession or armed rebellion or subversive activities.”
“If someone believes that persons indulging in armed rebellion, secession or subversive activities should not be jailed, I strongly disagree. Such persons should go to jail, they should be punished. No one has such a right,” Shah said.
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