sedition

Section 124A IPC punished bringing or attempting to bring into hatred or contempt, or exciting disaffection towards, the Government established by law. In Kedar Nath Singh the Supreme Court upheld it only by reading it down to acts that incite violence or tend to create public disorder; mere criticism of government, however strong, was not sedition. In May 2022 the Supreme Court directed that Section 124A be kept in abeyance.

The BNS does not contain an offence of sedition. Its Section 152 punishes acts endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, such as exciting secession, armed rebellion or subversive activities. Students should not treat Section 152 as a mere renaming: its language and focus differ.

Example

After Kedar Nath Singh, a speech criticising government policy without any incitement to violence could not be punished as sedition.

In Indian law

• Section 152, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (old s.124A, Indian Penal Code, 1860, which had no direct successor)
• Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar, 1962 INSC 17: Section 124A upheld but limited to incitement to violence or public disorder

See also

freedom of speech and expression · reasonable restrictions

Read more in the study notes

• From the IPC to the BNS: background, extent and key reforms (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Offences against the State (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita)
• Article 19(1)(a): freedom of speech and expression (Constitutional Law I)
• The Supreme Court and the High Courts (Constitutional Law II)
• Law and Lawyers: the Great Trial of 1922 (English)
• Freedom of the press and the right to broadcast and telecast (Indian Constitutional Law - New Challenges)