'All King's horses, men can't save sedition law': P Chidambaram reacts to Kiren Rijiju's 'lakshman rekha' remark

New Delhi: Kiren Rijiju, the Law Minister of India, has no authority to draw any arbitrary Lakhsman Rekha on the sedition law, Congress leader P Chidambaram tweeted on Thursday, reacting to the minister's Wednesday remark that all the branches of the democracy, including the judiciary, must not cross their boundaries. The remark had come in the wake of the Supreme Court order in which it had put in abeyance all legal proceedings related to the sedition law till the Centre re-examines its controversial provisions.

"The Law Minister of India has no authority to draw any arbitrary Lakshman Rekha. He should read Article 13 of the Constitution. The Legislature cannot make a law, nor can a law be allowed to remain on the statute book, that violates the Fundamental Rights," he tweeted.

"The sedition law, in the view of many legal scholars, violates Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution. All the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot save that law," he added, taking a dig at the Central government. 

The sedition law, in the view of many legal scholars, violates Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution

All the King’s horses and all the King’s men cannot save that law

— P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) May 12, 2022

CJI NV Ramana, at the joint conference of Chief Justices and Chief Ministers last month, had said all the three arms of the democracy - judicial, legislative and executive - can work in tandem if the lakshman rekha (boundary)  is not crossed. 

Rijiju on Wednesday slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for tweeting over the Supreme Court's pause on the sedition law. He attacked P Chidambaram also, saying many sedition cases had been filed during his tenure as the Union Home Minister.