The Punjab BJP has called for a sedition case against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for blaming the party for recent blasts in the state, alleging his remarks could be used by Pakistan to defend against accusations of sponsoring terrorism.
One out of every six sedition cases registered in India between 2014 and 2021 came from Assam.
The National Crime Records Bureau data, referred to and quoted by rights lawyer Vrinda Grover, assumes significance in view of the observations of an apex court bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana that there have been "enormous misuse" of the colonial era penal law on sedition and very low rate of conviction in such cases.
The observations came from a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi which was hearing pleas questioning the validity of Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police in Lucknow, India, have filed a sedition case against folk singer Neha Singh Rathore for her social media posts targeting a particular faith community in the wake of the Pahalgam tragedy. The complainant alleges that her posts could harm the nation's unity. The complaint references the execution-like killing of 26 people in Pahalgam by terrorists, and states that Rathore's posts incited one community against another based on religion. The case against Rathore was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for attempting to promote sectarian animosity, disturbing public tranquillity and endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India. She was also booked under the Information Technology Act.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has accused the BJP-led central government of playing 'dangerous games' with Punjab, alleging the misuse of agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the CBI for political purposes.
According to the home ministry data, 2019 saw the highest number of 93 cases registered in the country, followed by 70 in 2018, 51 in 2017, 47 in 2014, 35 in 2016 and 30 in 2015.
The Delhi High Court has granted interim bail to Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who is accused in a terror-funding case, following the death of his father. The bail is effective until June 2, with strict conditions including police escort and restricted movement.
Considering a plea filed by Sulthana seeking to quash the FIR registered against her by the Kavaratti police, the high court said investigation in the case was in a preliminary stage and more time may be required for completing the probe.
The Congress and the government engaged in a war of words in Lok Sabha on Tuesday over sedition cases with the opposition party alleging the stringent law is being misused, drawing a sharp retort from Union minister G Kishan Reddy who asked it not to lecture others on democracy.
The Delhi government has given a go-ahead to the city police to prosecute former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and nine others in connection with a four-year-old sedition case, as the ruling AAP denied the persistent BJP charge of blocking the proceedings in the matter.
The bench expressed displeasure over the trend of filing of sedition cases just after senior advocate F S Nariman made opening submissions on behalf of Singh, saying 'the gentleman has served as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and was acting as the Director of the Police Academy and now the proceedings under section 124A (sedition) of the IPC have been initiated against him'.
An FIR against Dua under IPC provisions for offences of sedition, public nuisance, printing defamatory materials and public mischief was lodged by BJP leader Shyam at Kumarsain police station in Shimla district on May 6 and the journalist was asked to join the probe.
Vaiko, who was present in the court, said he never sought any leniency.
The Delhi High Court granted interim bail to Baramulla MP Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who is imprisoned in a terror-funding case, following his father's death. The court stipulated that Rashid must be accompanied by police officials during his release.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered that Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh, currently detained in Dibrugarh jail, Assam, will appear virtually before a trial court in Amritsar for the 2023 Ajnala police station attack case.
The Commission also suggested changes to the phrasing of Section 124A and added words "a tendency to incite violence or cause public disorder".
The police had filed a chargesheet against Kumar and others, including former Jawaharlal Nehru University students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya.
Granting bail, Justice Ashok Menon said there was no apparent indication in her statement, which amounts to imputations or assertions prejudicial to the national interest, nor does it propagate any class of persons against another group of persons.
The Supreme Court Friday granted bail to rebel Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress MP K Raghu Ramakrishna Raju, who was arrested in a sedition case lodged by Andhra Pradesh Police against him.
Apex court gives one-and-a-half months time to the Gujarat police to complete the investigation in the case.
Jailed Lok Sabha member Sheikh Abdul Rashid has been granted a week's interim bail by the Delhi High Court to visit his ailing father in Srinagar. Rashid, an MP from Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla, is facing trial in a terror-funding case and has been in Delhi's Tihar Jail since 2019.
The city police on Tuesday told a Delhi court that it was still probing the sedition case against hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, writer Arundhati Roy and four others for making alleged anti-India speeches last year.
The bail plea of Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel was on Thursday rejected by a district and sessions court in Surat.
Former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia was booked for sedition over her alleged "slanderous comments" concerning martyrs of the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
The main accused in the violent workers' protest in Noida has been arrested in Tamil Nadu, after being on the run. Aditya Anand, the alleged mastermind, was apprehended at Tiruchirappalli Railway Station and had a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.
Zia and 27 leaders and officials of her BNP have been accused of instigating the firebombing in Dhaka as part of a deadly campaign against the government.
The Delhi High Court has granted one-week interim bail to jailed Lok Sabha member Sheikh Abdul Rashid to visit his ailing father, under strict conditions including police escort and restrictions on visitors.
In a relief to filmmaker Ayesha Sulthana who was booked for sedition in Lakshadweep, the Kerala high court granted her interim anticipatory bail for a week, while reserving orders on her anticipatory bail application.
Hearing of the sedition case against hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, writer Arundhati Roy and four others for their alleged anti-India speeches was preponed by a fortnight by a Delhi court. The court, which earlier had fixed the matter for hearing on May 5, today advanced it to April 19 following a plea for early hearing by complainant Sushil Pandit.
A case was registered on February 11, 2016 under Sections of 124 A (sedition) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against unknown persons at Vasant Kunj (North) police station following complaints by BJP MP Maheish Girri and the ABVP.
The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested two individuals for allegedly conspiring to wage war against the country by radicalising individuals through social media and planning to establish 'Ghazwa-e-Hind'.
Gujarat high court on Tuesday said there is prima facie case of sedition against Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel, while refusing to quash the FIR filed against him in Surat.
Kumar and others, including former JNU students Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya, were accused of raising anti-India slogans.
A local court on Tuesday night remanded the Patel quota agitation leader Hardik Patel in police custody till October 23 in connection with the sedition case against him for allegedly instigating a Patel youth to kill policemen.
A Delhi court on Friday granted bail to former JNU student Sharjeel Imam in a sedition case in which he was accused of instigating the Jamia riots in New Delhi in 2019.
A highly-placed defence source said a first information report was registered against COCOMI on July 10, after the outfit gave a call to people 'not to surrender weapons.'
Delhi Police have arrested four men from Maharashtra, Odisha, and Bihar for allegedly planning terror activities and attempting to recruit others online. An IED and related materials were seized during the operation.
Imam in his fresh bail plea stated that since the apex court has put sedition (Sec 124-A) in abeyance, his case has improved for grant of bail.
Former Delhi University lecturer SAR Gilani was on Saturday granted bail by a Delhi court in a sedition case related to an event conducted at the Press Club last month.
