Supreme Court Justice Deepak Gupta said that criticism of the government, the judiciary, bureaucracy and the armed forces cannot be termed as "seditious", reported The Indian Express. He was delivering the valedictory address on the topic 'Law of sedition in India and Freedom of Expression' at a workshop for lawyers in Gujarat. “The right of freedom of opinion and the right of freedom of conscience by themselves include the extremely important right to disagree,” he said, according to Bar and Bench. “Whether one is a believer, an agnostic or an atheist, one enjoys complete freedom of belief and conscience under our Constitution. There can be no impediments on the aforesaid rights except those permitted by the Constitution. There is no advocacy on principles and issues. There are only shouting and slanging matches. Unfortunately, the common refrain is either you agree with me or you are my enemy, or worse, an enemy of the nation, an anti-nationalist," he said, according to the report.
Earlier this week, Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement leader Shehla Rashid has been booked for sedition over her tweets alleging that the armed forces "tortured" civilians and "ransacked" houses in the Valley after Jammu and Kashmir's special status was revoked, police said on Friday. She has also been charged with spreading "fake news" with the intention to "malign the image of Indian Army", they said.
In a series of tweets on August 17, Rashid had alleged that the armed forces entered houses in Kashmir at night and "ransacked" them. She had also alleged that four men were called to an Army camp in Shopian and "interrogated [tortured]".
After a complaint was received, it was handed over to the Delhi Police's Special Cell for inquiry. Rashid has been booked under section 124A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code.
