On September 12, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a series of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the colonial-era sedition provision in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

On May 1, these petitions were initially presented before the Supreme Court. However, the court decided to postpone the hearing after the Central government stated that it was in the process of conducting advanced consultations regarding the re-examination of the sedition penal provision.

On August 11, the Central government took a significant step toward modernizing colonial-era criminal laws by introducing three bills in the Lok Sabha. These bills aimed to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Indian Evidence Act. Notably, these bills proposed the repeal of the sedition law and the introduction of a new provision with a broader definition of the offense.

As per the cause list for September 12, which has been uploaded on the Supreme Court's website, the petitions challenging the constitutionality of Section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) are scheduled to be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. This indicates that the court will be addressing the issue related to the sedition law on that date with this specific panel of judges.

During the hearing of these petitions on May 1, the Supreme Court had taken note of the submission made by Attorney General R Venkataramani. The Attorney General had informed the court that the government had initiated the process to re-examine Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with the sedition law. This acknowledgment by the government was part of the discussion in the courtroom.

"R Venkataramani, Attorney General for India, states that in pursuance of the order dated May 11, 2022, the government has initiated the process of re-examining the provisions of section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and consultations are at a substantially advanced stage," the apex court had noted in its May 1 order.

Last year, in May, the Supreme Court issued a significant order in which it temporarily suspended the colonial-era sedition law until an "appropriate" government body could re-evaluate it. Additionally, the court directed both the Central government and state governments not to file any new FIRs invoking the sedition provision during this period. This order was seen as a notable development in the ongoing discussion about the validity and application of the sedition law in India.

Besides the lodging of FIRs, ongoing probes, pending trials and all proceedings under the sedition law across the country will also be in abeyance, the top court had said.

The sedition law in India, as governed by Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), was introduced in 1890. This provision allows for a maximum prison sentence of life for activities aimed at creating "disaffection towards the government."

The law was incorporated into the IPC 57 years before India gained independence from British colonial rule and almost 30 years after the IPC itself came into existence. The colonial-era origins of this law have been a subject of ongoing debate and scrutiny in the context of modern India's legal framework and democratic principles.