Sedition law’s Section 124-A: Bill proposing revocation approved by Senate panel

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Thursday unanimously approved a bill proposing revocation of a British colonial-era sedition law’s section 124-A of Pakistan Penal Code, 1860.

The committee which met here with Mohsin Aziz in the chair, discussed the bill titled The Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Bill, 2020 moved by Raza Rabbani.

The bill was first proposed by Senator Rabbani, a former chairman Senate, in February 2020, to amend section 124 (A) of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860, to do away with the colonial structure of governance.

Section 124(A) of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860 which deals with sedition against the federal and provincial governments.

Rabbani said that the bill was on hold for long, adding that these kinds of laws are no longer needed now. He said a single-member bench of Lahore High Court (LHC) had also declared the law unconstitutional.

A representative of the Law and Justice Ministry said that the government had filed an appeal against the LHC’s ruling, adding the parliamentary proceedings should be stopped till a decision of the high court.

In March this year, a single-judge bench of the LHC declared the sedition law unconstitutional, saying the verdict will be applicable across the country until it is overturned by Supreme Court of Pakistan.

According to the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, “this section is a part of the inherited colonial structure of governance that continues in Pakistan. This section was for the natives who had to be kept under control least they incited rebelling against the masters.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023