High Court Rules Sloganeering Against Government Not Sedition

The Punjab and Haryana High Court ruled that raising slogans against the government or its administrative wings does not automatically constitute sedition under Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code. A Division Bench comprising Justice Vinod S. Bhardwaj and Justice Sukhvinder Kaur dismissed a state appeal and upheld the acquittal of individuals accused of violence and sloganeering following the August 2017 conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The court clarified that while violent protests may qualify as rioting, such actions and expressions of outrage do not necessarily equate to hatred or contempt against the state. The judges noted that sloganeering in an elected democracy is a form of dissent and cannot be equated with the legal definition of sedition.

In addition to the legal interpretation of sedition, the court criticized the prosecution for substantial failures in its case. The ruling highlighted the lack of a test identification parade and the state's inability to prove the presence of the accused at the scene of arson and vandalism in the Kaithal district. Witnesses had only identified the accused for the first time during court appearances, leading the court to uphold the original acquittal by the Kaithal Sessions Court.