New Delhi: Agreeing to the Centre's request for time to review Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with the offence of sedition, the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre if it would direct states to keep cases under the provision in abeyance.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli gave the Centre 24 hours to inform the court if it can issue instructions to all states and Union territories regarding putting in abeyance all cases under the law.
The court was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law.
After firmly defending the sedition law and asking the Supreme Court to dismiss challenges to it, the government on Monday told the court it had decided to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of Section 124A, seeking the apex court not to take up the matter until the government examined it.
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal objected to the Centre's request, urging the court to "go ahead with the matter".
Earlier, the court asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta who was appearing for the Centre, how long it would take for reconsidering the sedition law and how the government would address its misuse.
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offences of sedition was enacted in 1860, under the British Raj.
Petitioners challenging the law argued that the law was being widely misused against critics of the state and violated constitutional rights guaranteed to the citizens.