Assam MLA Akhil Gogoi and his struggle against sedition law, UAPA charges

By Tanuj Dhar
Guwahati, June 11 Between 2014 to 2019, Assam reported up to 54 cases of sedition after a wave of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

Some prosecutions were brought against individuals for their social media posts that were deemed to be pro-Pakistan or anti-India.

While those who violated the first two categories attracted some public attention, the majority of young people accused of sedition for their social media posts were from lower-class families and went unnoticed.

Since 2017 till 2021, activist-turned-Sivasagar MLA Akhil Gogoi has been charged with numerous sedition-related offences, the majority of which stem from his protests against the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act.

He was jailed for quite a long time after he was arrested amid the anti-CAA protests in December 2019. Gogoi fought the 2021 Assembly election from jail and won as an independent candidate.

In 2017, Assam reported 19 instances under Section 124A. It documented 17 sedition cases each in 2018 and 2019. There has only been one sedition case reported in the past three years.

"Assam is the state where sedition laws are employed the most frequently, both statistically and qualitatively," according to Gogoi.

He said, "Here, sedition accusations are brought against everyone who disagrees with the BJP. Communalism is another element at play in this situation."

Although sedition accusations were made against individuals under the preceding 15-year Congress administration as well, there is a distinction in the types of claims made in the charges. According to reports, sedition charges against people in the past were connected to terrorism.

The majority of these prosecutions were brought against individuals who were allegedly connected to rebel organisations such as the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

Akhil Gogoi was also slapped with Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), and he is now on bail.

Earlier in 2021, a special court in Assam discharged him of UAPA charges, however, later the Gauhati High Court set aside the special court's judgement and the case against the legislator has been continued.

He moved to the Supreme Court seeking quashing the High Court judgement. But the top court of the country upheld the High Court order though it granted bail to Gogoi in April this year.

On April 19, a Supreme Court bench of justices V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal rejected the National Investigation Agency's (NIA) arguments and said that the situation was appropriate for granting bail.

It stated that the investigation into the case was complete and that there was no evidence to suggest that Gogoi had engaged in any illegal behaviour since being let go.

The court order mentioned, "In this case, the investigation is over and the petitioner is not yet a convicted criminal. Therefore, we do not think that any purpose will be served in allowing the special court to remand him to custody and then enabling him to move an application for bail."

The two judges bench also said the Sivasagar MLA will remain out on bail during the period of trial meeting the special court's conditions.