Sedition charge dropped against 15 arrested in MP for celebrating Pakistan win
Police said that during investigation, they found that the arrested people should be booked on charges of promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race etc, instead of sedition.
Madhya Pradesh Police on Thursday dropped sedition charges against 15 people arrested in Burhanpur district for allegedly celebrating Pakistan’s victory in the ICC Champions Trophy final, raising slogans in Pakistan’s favour and bursting crackers.
The 15 youths were arrested on charges of sedition, but the charges were dropped by Madhya Pradesh Police on Thursday. (HT Photo)
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Following a complaint and an FIR, police found during investigation that these people should be booked under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code and not under 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy) and 124A (sedition), Burhanpur superintendent of police RRS Parihar told HT over phone.
“So we have dropped these charges and booked them for disrupting communal harmony in the area,” he said from Burhanur, around 350 km from state capital Bhopal.
Section 153A is imposed for “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc, and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony”.
Sources said the action followed outcry from several sections of people on how such serious charges could be slapped for cheering for another team during a cricket match.
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They said Shahpur area, where the incident allegedly took place, also happens to be the home turf of state BJP president Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan.
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They said Shahpur area, where the incident allegedly took place, also happens to be the home turf of state BJP president Nand Kumar Singh Chauhan.
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As Muslims are in substantial numbers in the area, the BJP didn’t want to annoy them or get in their bad books, the sources added.
On Tuesday, the families of the arrested people said the serious charge of sedition will ruin their lives, and also alleged that it was conspiracy to target them as they were from the minority community.
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.
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