LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) Thursday invalidated Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code, generally known as sedition law, which pertains to the crimes of sedition or inciting “disaffection” against the government.
The court termed it inconsistent with the constitution of Pakistan. Justice Shahid Karim pronounced the verdict in response to identical petitions filed for the annulment of the sedition law. It did not yet release a written ruling.
A petition, filed by a citizen, namely Haroon Farooq, had urged the court to declare the section as ultra-vires in terms of Article eight of the Constitution being inconsistent with and in violation of fundamental rights.
According to the petition, the law has been carelessly used as a tool to curb the right to free speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
It said that section 24-A of Pakistan Penal Code 1860 is an illegitimate restriction and limitation on the lawful, legitimate, and legal exercise of the constitutionally guaranteed right of free expression, speech, and various other freedoms.
It added that various journalists, politicians, and activists had been booked under this section over the past few years. The intensity of registration of FIRs under the section is rapidly increasing while the people have suffered a lot, as almost every criticism of state institutions or government has been treated as an offence by law enforcement agencies.
“Law serving as a notorious tool”
The petition argued the law was serving as a notorious tool for the suppression of free speech, dissent, and criticism in free and independent country.
It exampled the case of PTI leader Shahbaz Gill, who said he was being prosecuted under sedition charges. Similarly, the plea mentioned other lawmakers, including Ali Wazir and Mohsin Dawar from Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement, who said were also facing prosecution in sedition charges.
The plea noted that various prominent journalists like Arshad Sharif, Adeel Raja, Khawar Ghumman, and Sadaf Abdul Jabbar are facing prosecution in sedition charges. Javed Hashmi was also sentenced to twenty-three years in prison on sedition charges.
It added that almost all individuals who had been investigated, booked, and prosecuted on sedition charges under this section were acquitted because most of these cases were politically motivated and were based on ambiguous, bald, vague, and uncertain allegations.
The PTI filed a similar petition last year with the Islamabad High Court seeking annulment of the sedition law, but it was dismissed for being “non-maintainable”.
