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- October 2019
Index
Toppers Talk
Art & Culture
Polity
- Right to access internet is fundamental right declares Kerala High Court
- Legal rights of Deities in India, Difference in Natural and Juristic Person
- Bru refugees refuse to return to Mizoram
- No animal sacrifice in Tripura temple-Orders High Court
- EC’s Order on Reducing Sikkim CM’s Disqualification Period
- Law Ministry issues corrigendum to Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
- Appointment of the Judges in India.
- New Chief Justice of India- How is CJI appointed?
- Indian Penal Code 1860, HM Amit Shah wants to Overhaul IPC
- National Population Register (NPR) 2020
- Whistle Blowers Allegations on Infosys
Governance & Social Justice
- 60% girls in Delhi colleges anaemic
- Niti aayog’s School education quality index
- Multipurpose National Identity Card
- Population pyramid : India Vs China, Demographic dividend Phase of India
- UN Population Report, India will become the most populous country by 2027
- Supreme Court upholds SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendments Act
- Comparing Population Pyramids of India and China
- Waqf boards-Their governance and purpose
- Harvard Admissions Case
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana- Ist Anniversary, Problems and solutions
- Significance of sexual and Reproductive Health-Status of reproductive services in India
- Pregnancy in Old Age, What is In Vitro Fertilisation-Risks and legal shortcomings
- Supreme Court Judgement on NGOs and RTI
- Social Stock Exchange
- Rajasthan Govt changes EWS norms, Sets Rs 8 lakh family income as only criteria
- Global hunger index 2019
- No Government job for those with more than two kids
- Ranitidine CANCER risk
- IIT Council Introduces Tenure track system
International Relations
- Bangladesh growing faster than India ?
- Cyprus dispute explained
- Donald Trump impeachment
- India wins Hyderabad Nizam case against Pakistan
- India’s reply to Pakistan at UNGA
- Prime Minister of Malaysia calls India and invader in Kashmir
- Should India recognise the armenian genocide ?
- Why are CARICOM countries important for India ?
- Why are countries leaving OPEC ?
- Attacks on Saudi Oil facilities
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation issues statement on Jammu and Kashmir
- Sri Lanka’s relations with India & China
- US troops start pullout in Syria as Turkey prepares for operation
- What are Vanilla Islands?
- India-USA trade deal
- UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award-2019
- Modi – Xi Informal meet at Mamallapuram – Historic Chinese links
- India China informal summit in Tamil nadu
- Pakistan save from FATF blacklist till 2020
- USA blacklists China organisations over Uighur Muslim abuse
- Why is Chile burning ?
- Why is the Philippines important for India
- Xi jinping Nepal visit 2019 and impact on India
- India Pakistan Cross LOC Trade suspended, Should India revoke suspension?
- Protests in Lebanon
- Chennai to Vladivostok Sea Route
- End of baghdadi
- Indian government’s security advisory
- Indians no longer require Visa to visit Brazil
- Non Aligned Movement 2019 summit
- US backed Ceasefire between Turkey and Kurds
- Pakistan stops postal exchange with India
- China’s GDP growth slows to 6% slowest in 27 years
- Common Goods for Health project by WHO
- Turkey attack Kurds in Syria
Geography
Economy
- Behavioural Aspect of Farmer Suicide
- Is rural India really open defecation free ?
- Global Growth Slow Down
- Nobel Prize in Economics 2019
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- SBI wrote off bad loans worth 76,000 crores
- Surge in Onion Price
- Agriculture Credit by RBI’s Internal Working Group
- What is Debt to GDP Ratio?
- Yes Bank Crisis
- Nobel prize in Literature – Controversy
- Boosting Indian Exports
- Sopore Fruit Mandi deserted
- What is Pink Collarisation?
- Mizoram to have Broad Gauge railway line by 2021
- Demand downturn in Indian Economy
- Payment facilitation fund
- Participatory Guarantee Scheme
- RBI’s 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20
- Tourism restrictions lifted in Kashmir
- Link between Jobs, Farming, and Climate
- Draft Social Security Code 2019
- State Tax Revenues, SGST and Central Tax Devolution are likely to fall short
- Competitiveness Index 2019 by World Economic Forum
- NITI Aayog’s Water Resources Strategy
- BSNL and MTNL financial issues-DoT prepares Rs 74000 crore revival plan
- 20th Livestock Census
- India falls 10 ranks in World economic forum’s Global competitiveness index
- RBI stops Printing Rs 2000 Notes
- What is the Unified Approach proposal of OECD?
- FCI granaries overflowing
- India’s Economic Growth 2019
- Financial Sector Scams in India
- Labour Market of India
- New Strategic Disinvestment Process
- Payment Delays to Sugarcane Farmers
- Why India’s IMF Quota is not increased
- What is monetary policy Transmission? Why banks are not reducing interest
- Mahatma Gandhi’s theory of Economics
- India moves up 14 spots to 63 on world Bank ease of doing business index
- New amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act
- Power Sector Scenario in India
- Telecos to Pay Rs 96,642 crore to the Government
- Camel population declines in Rajasthan
- Merger of BSNL and MTNL
- World bank on Indian economy
Defence & Security
- Nagas Kukis Conflict, What is the cause of the latest tensions?
- Case against 50 Celebrities controversy
- Can Indian Government intercept WhatsApp?
- UP Government fires 25000 home guards, Is Yogi Government’s decision justified?
- NCRB’s Crime in India 2017 report
- Aadhaar Social Media mandatory linking case
- What is TechSagar? National repository of India’s cyber tech capabilities.
Disaster Management
Science & Technology
- ISRO’S Project NETRA
- Facebook’s LIBRA Currency in trouble
- WHO launches first World report on Vision
- 2019 Nobel prize in physics
- 2019 Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine
- Elon musk’s starlink project
- NASA’s ICON mission
- New King of the Moons in the Solar system is Saturn
- What Is Spectroscopy ?
- Quantum supremacy
Environment
- Climate Vulnerable Mapping Of India
- C40 Cities
- Gujarat Unveils emission trading scheme
- Forest Plus 2.0
- Himalayan States seeks Green Bonus
- India to Phase Out Single Use Plastic (SUP) by 2022
- Role of Volcanoes in Global Warming
- NH 766 ban controversy, Protests in Kerala against night traffic ban on the forest stretch
- Climate Change needs Global Solution
- Aarey Forest -2185 trees to be cut for Mumbai metro
- Government to build 1400 km long Green wall
- Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi
- Aerosol formation brightening clouds
- Anthrax outbreak in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Two affected buffaloes died
- Species in News from June to October 2019
- Climate Action Summit 2019
Prelims bits

Tag:GS-3|| Security || Tackling Security Threats || Major Laws & Policies
Why in news?
- A case of alleged sedition has been registered in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur against 49 celebrities who had penned an open letter to the PM on growing incidents of mob lynchings.
What is the charge?
- Increasing Mob violence: Mob lynchings were on the rise as no one would be prosecuted by the perpetrators supposedly knew.
- Open letter to PM
- In July 2019, the open letter to the PM by the celebrities expressing their concern about the above was written.
- They include, among others, Ramchandra Guha, Shyam Benegal, Aparna Sen, Mani Ratnam, and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
- Case against signatories
- A lawyer, Sudhir Kumar Ojha, filed a petition in the Muzaffarpur Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court.
- It took a prosecution against the signatories on the grounds of suspected sedition, public nuisance, and religious damage.
- Court order to file FIR
- The police registered the case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) under the order of the court to file an FIR.
- It includes sedition, public nuisance, hurting religious feelings, and insulting with intent to provoke breach of peace.
How has the sedition law evolved?
- Enactment of the Law:
- Sedition laws were enacted in England in the 17th century when politicians and lawmakers felt that only good government views should survive.
- Bad views at that time were counterproductive to the state and the monarchy
- This idea (and law) was borrowed from the IPC in 1870.
- Law used against freedom fighters
- British violated the statute of sedition in order to convict and punish fighting for freedom.
- The statute was initially applied in 1897 to prosecute Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
- Section 124A
- This case led to the amendment of Section 124A of the IPC (which deals with sedition) to add the words ‘ hatred’ and’ contempt’ to’ disaffection.’
- Sedition These were defined to include disloyalty and feelings of enmity.
- Constituent Assembly
- Others sought to include sedition in the Constituent Assembly twice as a basis for limiting freedom of speech.
- However, for fear of being used to suppress political dissent, this was vehemently (and successfully) opposed.
Supreme court’s Rulings on various cases
- In its judgment in Brij Bhushan v. Delhi and Romesh Thappar v. Madras, the Supreme Court outlined these debates in 1950.
- Such rulings prompted an amendment to the First Constitution where Article 19(2) had been revised.
- Accordingly, the term “undermining State security” has been replaced by the expression “in the public interest.”
- In 1962, Section 124A in Kedar Nath Singh v State of Bihar was upheld by the Supreme Court.
- The court, however, limited the application of the law to’ actions having the purpose or propensity to cause disorder or disruption of law and order or incitement to violence.’
- Obviously, it differentiated them from “very strong language” or the highly critical use of “vigorous phrases” by the state.
- In 1995, in Balwant Singh v Punjab State, the Supreme Court acquitted individuals of sedition charges for shouting slogans such as “Khalistan Zindabaad” and “Raj Karega Khalsa” following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
- Instead of looking at the “tendency” of the words to cause public disorder, the Court held that mere sloganeering that evoked no public response did not amount to sedition.
Why is the present charge a wrong precedent?
- Disregards true meaning of the sedition law
- In view of the above rationality, the current sedition charge is deceptive and totally disregards the true meaning of the law of sedition.
- The law clearly distinguishes between’ strong government criticism’ and’ incitement to violence.’
- Responsible citizens
- The letter was written by responsible citizens who viewed the nation as a pluralist democracy.
- Certainly, even if the letter is considered by the government to be hateful and disdainful, it is not seditious if it did not incite violence.
- So, it is unclear how the court or the police could conclude that the contents were seditious or indicative of any other offense.
- Clearly, they could not be branded anti-national just because they did not agree with the government in power.
Way forward
- Right to freedom of expression
- India remains a democracy, and every person is entitled to write to those in government,
to the President.
- A genuine democracy must guarantee the right to raise questions, discuss, disagree and challenge the forces on the issues facing the nation.
- Take action against issues raised by public
- Steps should be taken by a responsible government on the topic outlined in the report.
- The simple pressing of charges of sedition ends up serving as a barrier to any voice of dissent or criticism which contributes to illegal self-censorship.
- Repeal sedition law
- It is high time to acknowledge that Section 124A’s broad scope means that the government can use it to pursue those who question its power and control.
- The court decision thus warrants an urgent and fresh debate on the need to repeal the sedition law; the law must go, as has happened in the U.K. already.
Mains model question
- In a letter, the eminent personalities questioned PM over rising mob lynchings in the country. Does writing an open letter to the prime minister could be called “an act of sedition” and how is it limiting freedom of speech of an individual. Critically Analyze.
References