Kapil Sibal Accuses Narendra Modi Government of Misusing Sedition Law, Says 'No Need For Such law in Today's Times'

New Delhi, January 16: Two days after sedition case was filed against Kanhaiya Kumar and other activists, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal accused the Narendra Modi government of misusing the sedition law to keep citizens in check. Sibal said, “Senior Congress leader: There is no need for a sedition law in today's times, it is a colonial law.” He further added, “Many who merely speak or tweet against the Government have sedition charges imposed against them, it is being misused by Centre just to keep citizens in check.” Kanhaiya Kumar Likely to Contest 2019 Lok Sabha Election from Begusarai on CPI Ticket.

On Monday, former Finance Minister P Chidambaram, also dubbed the charges against former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar and others in the JNU sedition case as "absurd". On January 14, the special cell of Delhi police filed a chargesheet in the sedition case against former JNU students' union president Kumar and other activists, including Umar Khalid and Anirban Bhattacharya. In the chargesheet, the police also named student activist Shehla Rashid and CPI leader D Raja's daughter Aprajita. The chargesheet reportedly says the police don't have strong evidence against Shehla Rashid.

A total of 35 people have been named in the 1200-page chargesheet. The chargesheet is filed under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 124A (sedition), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 465 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine, forged document), 143 (punishment for unlawful assembly), 149 (unlawful assembly with common object), 147 (rioting) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 16, 2019 01:41 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).