The Centre on Monday informed the Supreme Court that the process to re-examine Indian Penal Code‘s Section 124-A that criminalises sedition is at an “advanced stage”.

Attorney general R Venkataramani told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, during the resumed hearing of petitions challenging the 152-year-old law, that the government had initiated the process to “re-examine” the law and consultations were at an advanced stage.

The top law officer told the bench that the Centre was keen on modifying the law and that the revised law may be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.

Recording the submission, the bench deferred the case to the second week of August after the monsoon session of Parliament. “The attorney general states that the government has initiated the process to re-examine 124-A and consultations are at an advanced stage. In view of this statement and AG’s request, we keep this in the second week of August,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, representing one of the petitioners, contended SC has to examine whether this matter should be heard by a 7-judge bench since a 5-judge bench had upheld the provision in 1962.

During the last hearing in October 2022, the Centre had told SC that it was in the process of reviewing criminal laws and that “something may happen in the next Parliament session”.

This was submitted by the AG during the resumed hearing of a clutch of petitions challenging Section 124-A. In May last year, SC had stayed invocation of the sedition charge until provisions of the law were examined by the government.