The Constitutionality of Sedition

The Longest Constitution with Priya Mirza

The fifth parliamentary elections of India in 1971, set into motion a series of events that shaped the nation and the constitution. While campaigning, political parties promised voters that the constitution would be amended, a clear indicator that the Supreme Court’s striking down of parliamentary laws, such as in the Bank Nationalisation case (1970) and the privy purse case (1970) was being seen as an obstacle to a better India. This episode of The Longest Constitution looks at the constitutional provisions for constitutional amendments. We also look at the fate of thousands of Indians since 1962, when the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of sedition. Finally, we look at the expansion of Article 21 - that's the right to personal liberty and life when a convict on a death sentence protested against being placed in solitary confinement.

Further reading:

On Sedition:

• https://sedition.article-14.com/
• Bhatia, Gautam, 2016, Offend, Shock, or Disturb: Free Speech under the Indian Constitution, (New Delhi: OUP).

On Article 21:

• https://indiankanoon.org/doc/162242/
• Surendranath, Anup, 2016, ‘Life and Personal Liberty, in Choudhry, Sujit (et al), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, (New Delhi: OUP).

On the 1971 elections and constitutional amendments:

• Austin, Granville, 2003, Working a Democratic Constitution: The Indian Experience, (OUP: New Delhi).
• Khosla, Madhav, 2016, ‘Constitutional Amendment’, in Choudhry, Sujit (et al), The Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution, (New Delhi: OUP).

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