New Delhi: The Central government on Monday sought more time from the Supreme Court to file its detailed written submissions on a batch of petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the sedition law (Section 124-A of the Indian Penal Code). The court had in April 27 asked the Union of India to file its counter by the end of this week but the Centre requested additional time to file its response. The Centre filed an application before the Supreme Court and pleaded that the reply was ready but a sanction was needed from a department for which it needed more time in the matter. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for one of the petitioners, said he was relying on three books in the Sedition case. He wanted the books to be taken on record. A Bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana had on April 27 asked the Centre to file its counter by the end of this week and posted the batch of petitions for final hearing on May 5 and said no adjournment will be granted on that day. The petitions argue that what constitutes seditious speech sparked a tussle between free speech and law on sedition which has been underway since the colonial era. I UNI SM MR
