Jurist India court dismisses sedition claim against Kashmiri politician

[Dadparvar]

The Indian Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a civil writ petition against Dr Farooq Abdullah, a Member of the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) from the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference party and a former Chief Minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir. The petition had made a plea for terminating the senior politician’s Lok Sabha membership and asked that the court proceed against him for sedition under Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code.

Abdullah was taken to court for his statement on the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution where he was alleged to have publicly stated that he would take help from China to restore the status of Article 370 in Kashmir. The petition alleged that Abdullah was trying to “hand over” Kashmir to either China or Pakistan because it was common knowledge that “there are only two countries in the world which are trying to grab the Indian part of Indian territories.”

The apex court’s bench, comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta, dismissed the case for failing to substantiate its allegations and reiterated its position on Indian sedition law, holding that:

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.

It also reprimanded the petitioners for filing a case when they have no relation to the subject matter and imposed costs of Rs. 50,000 ($684) to “discourage such endeavours.” The fine is to be deposited in four weeks with the Supreme Court Advocates Welfare Fund, which was established under Advocates’ Welfare Fund Act of 2001 to “financially assist the indigent, disabled and other advocates.”

Farooq Abdullah, a five-time elected Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir, was among the regional leaders placed under house arrest for seven months as part of preventive detention under the J&K Public Safety Act.

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