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The government will take an “informed and reasoned” decision on the Law Commission report on sedition after holding consultations with all stakeholders, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said on Friday and noted that recommendations in the document were “persuasive” but not “binding”.

Meghwal’s remarks came in the wake of the recommendation by the law commission to increase the minimum jail term in sedition cases from the present three years to seven years.

“The law commission report on Sedition is one of the steps in the extensive consultative process. The recommendations made in the report are persuasive and not binding,” Meghwal said on Twitter.

He said the final decision on the matter will be taken only after consulting all the stakeholders.

“Now that we have received the report, we will also hold consultations with all the other stakeholders so that we take an informed and reasoned decision in the public interest,” Meghwal said.

The Law Commission, chaired by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi (retd), has proposed retaining the penal provision for the offence of sedition, saying repealing it altogether can have serious adverse ramifications for the security and integrity of the country.

It also suggested increase in the minimum jail term for sedition offences from the present three years to seven years, seeking to bring it in consonance with the scheme of punishment provided for other offences under Chapter VI of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which deals with offences against the state.

Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code dealing with sedition is at present under abeyance following directions of the Supreme Court issued in May 2022.

Amid allegations of misuse, there have been demands for repeal of the provision.

In its report, the Law Commission has recommended enhancing the jail term in sedition cases from a minimum of three years to seven years, contending that it would allow courts greater room to award punishment in accordance with the scale and gravity of the act committed.

The view evoked a strong reaction from the Congress, which accused the BJP government of planning to make it more “draconian” and giving a message ahead of the general elections that it will be used against opposition leaders.

Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, “A message of colonial mindset has been given that there will be a distance between the ruler and the ruled and through this law, the foundations of the republic will be uprooted. A message has been given ahead of the general election that we will use this in a one-sided manner particularly against opposition leaders.”

Rajya Sabha MP and former law minister Kapil Sibal said the Law Commission’s recommendations backing the sedition law are contrary to the ethos and the very foundations of the republic.

Addressing a press conference, Sibal said, “I am disturbed at these recommendations. These recommendations themselves are contrary to the ethos of the republic. They are contrary to the essence of the very republic, they are contrary to the very foundations of the republic.”

“They have given the status of the government as if the government is the state. Government is installed through the will of the people; it does not represent the state. It works for the state. This is a law that is conceptually flawed,” the senior advocate said.

After 2014, there have been more than 10,000 cases of sedition out of which there has been conviction only in 329, he said.

“You want to shut up those who wants to agitate against the government,” Sibal said, slamming the recommendations.