New Delhi: In a significant ruling, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday that expressing views which are different from government opinion will not be considered as an offence of sedition, Bar & Bench reported.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta dismissed a petition against MP and former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah relating to his comments protesting against the Union government’s scrapping of the special status to Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370.
The senior National Conference leader and Srinagar MP was under home detention at Gupkar Road, Srinagar — which was declared a subsidiary jail —since Article 370 was revoked on August 5, 2019. He was released on March 13, 2020.
Climate activist Disha Ravi was last month arrested by Delhi Police in the toolkit case relating to information on farmers’ protests on charges of sedition, while some other activists were also under radar.