Former Attorney General Soli Sorabjee on Saturday defended the law on sedition, saying it was needed in a country like India.

“I don’t think we can really repeal the sedition law. We require it in certain cases,” Sorabjee said after releasing a book on free speech in India.

He said the Supreme Court read it down in Kedarnath Singh’s case (1962) and unless there was instigation to commit violence, the law could not be invoked.

He sought to emphasise that the sedition law did not ban criticism of the government. “Criticism of the government, howsoever strong and pungent, does not amount to sedition,” Sorabjee said.