Home Judgments & Orders Supreme Court Dissenting From The Central Government’s View Is Not Seditious: SC Dismisses Petition

Dissenting From The Central Government’s View Is Not Seditious: SC Dismisses Petition

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In a recent order, the Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking action against former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah’s statement opposing the government’s decision to abolish the special status given to the state under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. It stated that merely dissenting form the government’s decision cannot be called seditious.

The matter came up when the ex-CM went into public speaking ill about the government’s decision to scrap Article 370. The petitioners made various allegations, stating that Farooq Abdullah had sought the help of China and Pakistan against India. They even called him ‘anti-national’. The two-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Hemant Gupta rejected these unsubstantiated claims and ruled that the whole endeavour was only for publicity. They even fined the petitioners heavily.

“The expression of a view which is a dissent from a decision taken by the Central Government itself cannot be said to be seditious. There is nothing in the statement which we find so offensive as to give a cause of action for a Court to initiate proceedings. Not only that, the petitioners have nothing to do with the subject matter and this is clearly a case of publicity interest litigation for the petitioners only to get their names in press. We must discourage such endeavours.”

Read Order:

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