The Centre on Wednesday clarified it had no proposal to scrap the sedition law, asserting the country needed it to "effectively combat anti-national, secessionist and terrorist elements".
Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, said: "There is no proposal to scrap the provision under the IPC dealing with the offence of sedition. There is a need to retain the provision to effectively combat anti-national, secessionist and terrorist elements."
Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) parliamentarian Banda Prakash had asked the question in the upper house.
Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with sedition, states, "Whoever, words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine."
The law on sedition was originally drafted by Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay and became a part of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1870.
(With inputs from ANI)
