The Supreme Court granted bail to doctor and civil liberty activist Binayak Sen on April 15. The Apex Court considers Binayak Sen’s sympathy towards Naxals is not sedition. Mr Sen was sentenced to life imprisonment on sedition charges by a trial court in Chhattisgarh. The decision of the court, which found the punishment and the charge levelled against Sen to be harsh, revived the debate to review the sedition provision with Law Minister M Veerappa Moily taking the lead to consider an amendment.
A Raipur court had on December 24, 2010 found Sen guilty on account of his association with top Naxal leader Narayan Sanyal, who was involved in instigating and executing attacks on political leadership in the State. Sen was convicted also for the charge of acting as a courier for the Naxals by using his cover as a doctor to visit the Naxal leaders in jail and carrying their message to the cadre. Following the order, Sen was taken into custody.
At present, the provision of sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. In a 1962 decision of the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Singh case, the constitutional validity of this provision has been upheld. But the latest observation of the apex court has forced the Government for a rethink. Reacting to the SC decision, Moily said, “I will consult the Home Minister and after that the Law Commission could be asked to revisit laws relating to sedition. We can have it re-looked.”