Comments by "M Shastri" (@libshastra) on "Question CJI Ramana should ask Modi govt at next sedition hearing: Is India made of porcelain?" video.

@urbaneindiana3089 Sessions courts don't follow precedent set by high courts. (Consider Gyanvapi petition as an example). High courts passes broad judgements that make things illegal overnight (2G allocation case made all telcoms illegal and subject to fines. Punjab high court made living in with two consenting adults illegal). Session and High courts sit on cases and adjourns them arbitrarily (Thus makes detentions without trial a norm rather than exception. This is antithetical to the Supreme courts judgement that says "Bail is the rule, jail is the exception") The incoherent and inconsistent rulings from lower courts have kept us behind for quite a while. They have also enforced outdated sections of Criminal Procedure Code which has vague British era laws that rather than squashing them as unconstitutional. The entire CrPC is antithetical to the fundamental rights and freedoms given it's extremely broad rule making and interpretation.
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@urbaneindiana3089 you keep changing the goal post. You asked how the judiciary held back the country, I answered. Keeping Sedition Act means Police can still book you under a vague act with vague definitions of sedition. This means you and I can be booked under Section 124A for just complaining against an officer of the Govt of India. A simple complain against a Govt officials regarding their behavior towards you can be considered as "exciting dissatisfaction against Govt of India" (by definition also includes State govts). Consider the following examples: In real terms, today if you call Aditya Thackeray a faku penguin, you would satisfy the criteria of "exciting dissatisfaction against Govt. Of India." Similarly, if you say Yogi Adityanath's handling of the second wave was poor, you satisfy the criteria for Sedition act. Similarly, if you believe Udhav Thackeray was stupid to scuttle the depot at Aarey colony, then you satisfy the criteria for Sedition Act. As a side note, CrPC has more such vague badly defined laws. They were intentionally made vague by the British so that they can book anyone, anyway, any time and anywhere. So technically you are breaking the law by just existing. We inherited that piece of shit Criminal code. Scrap that and you would cut case loads significantly. The rest of the backlog is because Govt of India sues itself over violations of some outdated Act. So scraping laws is important but so is enforcing precedent and building a good court culture. That is the Supreme Court's job that they abdicated ever since they rejected reforms since 1994.
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CrPC needs to be scrapped. If it's not sedition, then there's a plenty of other vague laws in Criminal Procedure code that law enforcement can use to imprison people. While the Supreme courts judicial activism is good and appreciated, unless the underlying High courts and Sessions courts dismiss cases filed under sedition and holds the Magistrate accountable, the Supreme Courts judgement will only remain as mere words and not judicial precedent that will protect constitutionals rights. I believe we need to seriously reform the judiciary because they don't seem to understand precedent or interpret laws in a way that's consistent with previous judgements (Consider Gyanvapi petition as an example).
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