Editors Guild welcomes SC order on sedition law

The Editors Guild of India on Wednesday welcomed the interim order of the Supreme Court staying the application of the sedition law.

The Guild welcomes this interim order as sedition law has been used far too often by central and state governments against journalists in an effort to curb independent reporting, it said in a statement here.

The Guild was one of the petitioners who had challenged the sedition law Section 124 A of the Indian Penal Code. The other petitioners included Major General SG Vombatkere (Retd), former Union Minister Arun Shourie and People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).

The Editors Guild of India is extremely pleased that in response to the petition filed by the Guild, challenging the sedition law (IPC 124A), the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on May 11, 2022, has passed an interim order effectively keeping the law in abeyance, until the Union Government reconsiders the provision, the Guild said in a statement.