The apex court has directed the Union government and the states to refrain from registering any new FIR, continuing any investigation, or taking any coercive steps under the sedition law.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the rate of sedition cases increased by 160% in recent times, while the conviction rate fell from 33.3% (2016) to 3.3% (2019).
The news hit the headlines across the nation on Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court has come down hard on the Union government and asked why it is using the colonial law.
The dramatic decline in the conviction rate in three years has revealed the exercise of flawed booking of sedition and illegitimate use of the law on the people across the country.
