India, Dec. 17 -- Few laws reveal the Indian State's unease with dissent as starkly as sedition. Drafted in 1870 to protect the British Crown from political unrest and infamously wielded against figures such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi, Section 124A of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code was never meant for a constitutional democracy. Yet, more than 70 years after Independence, it has resurfaced in one form or the other whenever the State felt politically challenged by citizens. As the Supreme Court now re-examines the law's constitutional validity, it is worth noting that the UK, from where India inherited sedition, has long since consigned it to history.

The immediate spark for this judicial reckoning came in February 2021, w...