Cartoons are a part of democracy and a part of the freedom of the media guaranteed by Article 19(1) (a) of the Indian Constitution, Press Council of India chief, Justice Markandey Katju, said on Tuesday.
He was reacting to cartoonist Aseem Trivedi’s arrest on charges of sedition. “Aseem Trivedi did nothing illegal by drawing the cartoons and putting them on the net,” he said in a statement mailed to the media.
He said arresting Trivedi was itself a crime called “wrongful arrest and wrongful confinement under Sections 341 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code”.
Justice Katju contended that the charge of sedition against Trivedi was wholly unsustainable since, in 1962, in the case of Kedar Nath Singh vs. State of Bihar (which can be seen online), the Indian Supreme Court held that it was only speech which incites violence which is seditious.
“Merely criticising the government or creating disaffection against it is not sedition. In fact, to hold otherwise would completely subvert democracy… Aseem's cartoons certainly did not incite to violence, though they may have severely criticised politicians,” he added.
He said politicians and police authorities must learn to be tolerant and take criticism in their stride.