The Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the application of the sedition law until its reexamination by the central government was over, Live Law reported. Those already charged under the law, enshrined as section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, the court added, may seek bail. This means several journalists booked under the sedition law in the past few years could get relief.
“We hope and expect central and state governments will refrain from registering any FIR, continuing investigation, or taking coercive steps under Section 124A IPC when it is under reconsideration,” a bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said in an interim order. “It will be appropriate not to use this provision of law till further re-examination is over.”
