The Editors Guild of India welcomes the Supreme Court judgment on the sedition case against senior journalist Vinod Dua

GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 4th June. The Supreme Court Thursday quashed the sedition case registered against journalist Vinod Dua in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, last year. The case was filed against Dua by a local BJP leader in Himachal Pradesh over his YouTube show.
A bench of Justices U U Lalit and Vineet Saran who had on October 6 last year reserved the verdict on the petition quashed the sedition case registered against after hearing arguments for Dua.
The Editors Guild of India welcomed the Supreme Court judgment on the sedition case against senior journalist Vinod Dua. In a statement released on Friday, it stated that the apex court not just quashed the criminal complaint against Dua, but has also underlined the importance of protecting journalists from sedition cases.
While the reference to the earlier judgement of Justice Kedar Nath Singh and the need to protect journalists from sedition charges is welcome, the manner in which such laws are implemented by law enforcement authorities in different parts of the country, leading to pre-trial incarceration, needs further intervention by the apex court.

On the issue of protection of freedom of speech and expression of media personnel, it said, “Every journalist is entitled to protection under the Kedar Nath Singh judgment (the famous verdict of 1962 on the scope and ambit of the offence of sedition in the IPC)
While upholding the validity of section 124A (sedition) of the IPC, the top court in 1962 had ruled the sedition charges could not be invoked against a citizen for criticism of government actions as it would be in conformity with the freedom of speech and expression.
EGI expresses satisfaction with the Supreme Court’s concerns over the chilling effect that sedition laws have on free media and on our democracy. The Guild demands repeal of these draconian and antiquated laws that find no space in any modern liberal democracy.