The Court of Appeal has overturned a judge’s decision to strike down aspects of this country’s colonial-age sedition legislation. Appellate Judges Mark Mohammed, Charmaine Pemberton, and Maria Wilson ruled that High Court Judge Frank Seepersad got it wrong when he upheld the case brought by former Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha (SDMS) secretary-general, Satnarayan Maharaj, before his death in November 2019. The judges disagreed with Seepersad’s ruling that segments of the Sedition Act were too vague and uncertain to be considered valid law. Mohammed noted that the legislation contained safeguards against arbitrary application including a requirement that the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) initiate prosecutions under it.
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