Overview
- A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi heard challenges to BNS Section 152 and BNSS Section 173, including claims that Section 152 revives sedition.
- The Court said Parliament has the absolute prerogative to enact laws despite the Union’s 2022 undertaking on sedition, subject to later constitutional review by the judiciary.
- CJI Surya Kant remarked that the Lalita Kumari ruling has been widely misused, contributing to frivolous FIRs, and urged allowing the new codes to operate for some time before broad interference.
- Justice Bagchi observed that BNSS provisions on preliminary enquiry expand categories already recognized in Lalita Kumari, with the reasonableness of that classification open to scrutiny.
- The consolidated petitions, including those by Azad Singh Kataria and the Mannargudi Bar Association, were adjourned to March for a fuller hearing after the Holi recess.