SC Dismisses PIL Seeking Action Against Farooq Abdullah for Views on Article 370

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court observed that disagreeing with the views and policies of the government won’t attract the offence of sedition. It rejected a petition seeking action against Farooq Abdullah, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister as he expressed his views on the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution (Rajat Sharma v. Union of India). 

In the plea filed by Rajat Sharma and Dr Neh Srivastava, it was alleged that Abdullah made a live statement declaring that he would take help from China for restoring Article 370. They also alleged that Abdullah is trying to “hand over” Kashmir to China so, he should be prosecuted for sedition under section 124A of IPC. 

Before dismissing the petition, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta stated that expressing views that are different from the opinion of the government does not fall under the preview of sedition. The petitioners were fined Rs 50,000 for failing to prove the allegations.