Sedition

Whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. In other words, writing things or saying things which encourage ordinary people to revolt against the Government or which cause discontent.

Let’s start with Bal Gangadhar Tilak who was at the forefront of the Indian Independence Movement was considered the first leader of the Indian Independence Movement and even the British called him "The father of the Indian unrest." His speeches strongly opposed the British rule and radical articles urged the Indians to rise and stand up against the British rule. On 24 June 1908, Tilak was arrested from Bombay on a charge of sedition and 153A IPC in respect of two articles carried in Kesari on 12 May and 9 June 1908. The Government swiftly charged him with sedition. At the conclusion of the trial, a special jury convicted him by 7:2 majority. The judge, Dinshaw D. Davar gave him a six years jail sentence to be served in Mandalay, Burma and a fine of ₹1,000. On being asked by the judge whether he had anything to say, Tilak said: “All that I wish to say is that, inspite of the verdict of the jury, I still maintain that I am innocent. There are higher powers that rule the destinies of men and nations; and I think, it may be the will of Providence that the cause I represent may be benefited more by my suffering than by my pen and tongue.”

A person can be charged with sedition through the expression as a cartoonist. In a similar case, Anti-corruption cartoonist Aseem Trivedi was arrested on sedition charges. Trivedi was arrested for displaying cartoons during the Anna Hazare protest in the Bandra-Kurla complex (BKC) on November 2011. The complaint was filed by Amit Katarnayea, a legal advisor for a Mumbai-based NGO. The BKC police on December 2011 received a complaint against Trivedi's allegedly derogatory sketches, depicting the National Emblem and the Parliament in a bad light. The complainant said that the offending cartoons were uploaded on social networking sites too, thereby hurting the sentiments of the nation. Trivedi himself believed that he was not in the wrong. When the court asked Trivedi if he had sought any counsel to represent him, Trivedi said, "I do not need any counsel. I do not even remember on which sketches of mine the police have arrested me. The police have arrested me for expressing my anger against the government. And if I am an accused by expressing my views, then yes in that case I prefer to be behind bars than to enjoy my freedom in this way." The court after hearing the arguments remanded him in police custody till September 16. Members of India Against Corruption (IAC) claimed that the cases were foisted on Trivedi by the government as the government was angry with their anti-corruption crusade.

Are sedition and anti-nationalism synonymous?

Nationalism is a very vague and abstract concept. People have a tendency to intermingle it with patriotism. Nationalism is a feeling of oneness with a community that shares a certain degree of commonality with you. Criticizing governmental policies doesn’t make you anti national. Article 19(1), the freedom of speech and expression does allow us to use our freewill to speak or express whatever we want , obviously with necessary restrictions in 19(2), which doesn't mention sedition.

Sedition was strongly objected by Mahatma Gandhi, who believed that every individual has a right to express his love for the country, in his own unique way and criticism was important for the country. Even Nehru has incessantly objected this provision. Supreme Court has reiterated the interpretation of the term sedition and section 124(a) several times, where they have mentioned that incitement of violence or public disorder is a prerequisite to be charged with Sedition. Mere slogans or cartoon sketches or statements cannot be called seditious