Expressing Views Different from Government’s not sedition: SC

New Delhi, 3/3: The Supreme Court of India said today that expressing views that are different from the Government’s opinion is not sedition. The court said so while dismissing the seditious charges on Former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah for his comments on the removal of section 370.

“Expression of views which are dissent and different from government opinion cannot be termed as seditious,” a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said.

The court dismissed the PIL filed against the National Conference leader and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the petitioner after he failed to substantiate his allegation that Abdullah sought help of China and Pakistan to criticise India over the issue of Article 370.

The Centre had scrapped the special status granted to J&K under Article 370 on August 5, 2019, and divided the state into two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh – with effect from October 31, 2019.