Public perception on Law of Sedition in the light of Freedom of Expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India – An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

More than a century in India, the controversial Law of Sedition Sec. 124A of IPC has been debated vociferously by a gamut of people like Legislators, Law enforcement officers, Activists, Sections of media, Political parties and Advocacy organizations. These debates have been happening between two set of people, who asks for abrogation of this provision of sedition law and people who supports in retention of this contentious provision of Law. Simultaneously, along with these raging debates, courts also have pronounced a mixture of judgments that validated the constitutional integrity, amending the scope of application of section 124 A of IPC. In a thriving democracy like India, it becomes imperative to understand the will of people in choosing between right of expression guaranteed by our constitution and safety of our nation.
 In this paper, researchers have attempted to gauge the public opinion towards the Law on Sedition through a survey using a structured questionnaire, as a tool to collect responses. It’s a known fact for everyone that how much significant is to know the will of people in a large functioning democratic country like India. In most of the available literature on this subject of Sedition Law Sec. 124A of IPC, it’s always researcher who forms or holds one opinion then strives to find supporting evidence to strengthen their opinion. Therefore, a research gap exists, that’s to find the will of people through a systematic response system. So, one of the large questions before the researchers is to find out the perception of people in choosing between unrestricted rights of speech or protecting integrity and security of nation. Sedition laws are certainly important to preserve peace and security of nation, however at the same time application of this sec.124A IPC has been extremely questioned, because of misuse by successive governments irrespective of the parties that governed it.
 In the main article the authors try to interpret the responses collected from different groups of people on Sedition Law and also will analyse the live FIR executed on Law of Sedition.