Welcoming the Supreme Court's decision of putting the sedition law on hold, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said that telling the truth was 'patriotism, not treason'.
"Telling the truth is patriotism, not treason. Telling the truth is love for country, not treason. Listening to the truth is 'rajdharma'. Crushing the truth is arrogance. Don't be afraid," Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
Earlier on Wednesday, in a historic development, the Supreme Court ordered that Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code which criminalises the offence of sedition be kept in abeyance till the government's exercise of reviewing the law is complete.
A bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli also asked the Central government and States not to register any cases under Section 124A.
It added that if such cases are registered in future, the parties are at liberty to approach the court and the court has to expeditiously dispose of the same, the bench added.
The apex court also said that those already booked under Section 124A IPC and are in jail can approach the concerned courts for bail.
Allowing the Central government to re-examine and reconsider the provisions of Section 124A, the apex court said that it will be appropriate not to use the provision of law till further re-examination is over.
The bench now posted the hearing of a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the sedition law, in July.
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