A 1962 Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court, which upheld the validity of the sedition law, “must be treated as a binding precedent” that has withstood the test of time, the Centre told the Supreme Court in a written note on Saturday.
The six-decade-old verdict of a five-judge Bench had allowed Section 124A (sedition) to continue to be part of the Indian Penal Code though it limited its applicability to "activities involving incitement to violence or intention or tendency to create public disorder or cause disturbance of public peace".
The note by the government, settled by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and drafted by the Centre’s panel counsel Kanu Agrawal, said the Kedar Nath verdict is “good law” and needs no reconsideration.
