‘Sedition Law Cannot Be Used to Quieten the Disquiet’: Delhi Court

The court said that sedition law was a powerful tool at the state’s disposal to maintain peace and order in society.

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The Delhi Court on Monday, 15 February, said that the sedition law cannot be invoked to "quieten the disquiet under the pretence of muzzling miscreants," and granted bail to two men accused of posting fake videos about the farmers’ protest on Facebook.

In a bail hearing of Devi Lal Burdak and Swaroop Ram, who were arrested this month for ‘sedition,’ Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana said the use of Section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) is a "seriously debatable issue" in the case, news agency PTI reported.

Further, the court expressed that the sedition law was a powerful tool at the state’s disposal to maintain peace and order in society.

Burdak had reportedly posted a false video on his Facebook account and captioned it, "There is a rebellion in Delhi Police and around 200 police officials have given mass resignation."

However, according to the police, the video in question was related to another incident in Jharkhand, where some Home Guard personnel in khaki were protesting.

The order stated, "In the absence of any exhortation, call, incitement or instigation to create disorder or disturbance of public peace by resort to violence or any allusion or oblique remark or even any hint towards this objective, attributable to the accused, I suspect that Section 124 A (Sedition) IPC can be validly invoked against the applicant," reported PTI.

The second accused also forwarded a video with a similar tagline. However, the video was of an instance where a senior Delhi Police officer was briefing police personnel at a farmers' protest site and asking them to tackle the situation appropriately.

The court granted bail to the accused and asked them to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.

(With inputs from PTI)