: The Tip of the Iceberg: Sedition and the (Mis)use of the Criminal Law #IndiaNEWSAll #International On 30th March, 2023, the Lahore High Court declared Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code unconstitutional

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The Tip of the Iceberg: Sedition and the (Mis)use of the Criminal Law #IndiaNEWSAll #International
On 30th March, 2023, the Lahore High Court declared Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code unconstitutional for violating several of the rights guaranteed in the Pakistan Constitution, such as the freedom of speech and expression. This follows on the heels of the Indian Supreme Court putting the Indian equivalent of the same provision in abeyance while a process of review takes place on its efficacy and need. The Indian Supreme Court order, similar to the Lahore High Court judgment, takes note of the argument that the law of sedition, as Section 124-A is known, is used as a tool for the prosecution and targeting of views and activities that are critical of the Government or of powerful interests. The vague provision has been amenable to misuse even after several requirements were read into it by the Supreme Court most notably in 1962, such as an incitement to violence and the unlawful use of force.
The question of the constitutionality of the sedition provision has been recurrent both politically as well as legally. It has been pointed out that the provision was suited to the desires of a colonial government, and is fundamentally incompatible with a democratic and rights based legal system, where criticism of the Government should be considered an important right which cannot be suppressed by the threat of criminal law. The Lahore High Court, in its ruling, accepts this argument which leads to the conclusion of the provision’s unconstitutionality. There are obvious similarities in the rights based schema of the Indian Constitution, where the question of freedom of expression and the right to life have undergone extensive development through decades, and the question that remains to be seen is whether the Indian Supreme Court will eventually come to similar conclusions.
From a legal standpoint, it is necessary to clarify a certain argument in order to take this discussion forward. In constitutional law, it is often argued that mere misuse of a particular provision is not grounds to declare that the same is unconstitutional. This has been argued by those keen to defend these laws, that the provision by itself is perfectly valid and necessary, but has been misused. This was also the trend followed in 1962, where the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the provision but attempted to thwart its misuse by adding conditions to when the law could be used. It is possible that the same argument may be made today, and was recently made to defend the constitutionality of another notorious provision, which was Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (the provision criminalising sexual intercourse between people of the same sex).
Read also: Same Sex Marriage is Not a Fundamental Right: Central Government to the Delhi High Court
The Lahore High Court judgment has proceeded to hold that misuse of the sedition law in Pakistan had attained such intensity and recurrence, that the law had to be held unconstitutional.

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