AMN /
The Bombay High Court today stayed Maharashtra government’s circular citing guidelines for state police with regard to application of sedition charges. A division bench of Justice V M Kanade and Dr Shalini Phansalkar Joshi today directed the government to ensure that no action is initiated in accordance with the existing circular. The bench has also asked the government to withdraw the circular at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the state government has assured that it would withdraw the existing circular and issue a new and revised one soon. The court has given the government two weeks’ time and adjourned the hearing till then.
The court was today hearing a PIL filed by advocate Narendra Sharma arguing that the circular dated 27th August amounts to violation of fundamental rights and had sought the High Court’s direction to quash it. According to the circular; sedition clause can be invoked against any person who by means of words or by signs is critical of elected representatives belonging to the government.
The circular adds that sedition charges will not apply to people who try to bring change in government through legal means without hatred and contempt. However, the petitioner contends that the circular can be misused by police who may not have appropriate training and requisite experience to understand the consequences of imposing such stringent provisions of IPC Section 14-A.