Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar (1962)
1962 AIR 955
Read the judgement here – indiankanoon.org/doc/111867/
This week’s post is based on the landmark judgement, Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar (1962). Kedar Nath Singh, was decided by a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court. The question before the Supreme Court in the case, was whether, section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, i.e., Sedition, was violative of Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The Court held that, section 124A of the IPC was in harmony with the Constitution.
From a jurisprudential viewpoint, the Kedar Nath Singh judgement is a very important decision. It holds independent India’s first original interpretation on the law of Sedition. All cases on the law of sedition preceding Kedar Nath, were either tried under British India, or following the same principles laid down by British jurisprudence on Sedition. Although, Kedar Nath Singh was preceded by various cases pertaining to the freedom of speech and restrictions thereof. (¶ 21)
This post, upon briefly presenting the context, background, and judgement of the case, moves onto exploring the ‘Bihar’ circa the time period of Kedar Nath Singh case.
The case, The background, The judgement
In very brief, the facts of this case are as follows; Kedar Nath Singh, a leader of the Forward Communist Party made a inflammatory speech in the village Barauni, within the erstwhile Monghyr district, on 26th May, 1953.
The exact words of Kedar Nath Singh can be found at ¶ 2 of the judgement (here). It would be unnecessary to reproduce the lengthy quotations here. Kedar Nath Singh was then prosecuted before the Magistrate, First Class, at Begusarai. The Magistrate convicted the appellant under sec. 124A, and 505(b). The appellant filed an appeal at the Patna High Court, which was heard by a single bench of late Justice Naqui Imam. Justice Imam upheld the conviction. KN Singh, preffered an appeal before the Supreme Court.
Finding Bihar in Kedar Nath Singh(1962)
Kedar Nath Singh’s case gives one a glimpse of a very niche political landscape in India. It gives a peep into the political climate of Bihar, immediately following Indian Independence. There are at least five important players here. There is Kedar Nath Singh, there is Communism, there are Bhumihars, there is Vinoba Bhave, and there is the Bhoodan Movement.
Who was Kedar Nath Singh?
Kedar Nath Singh was a political leader based out of Bihar. A lot that is known today about Kedar Nath Singh, and his early days, are though his long time colleague, Makardhwaj Singh, who has been interviewed separately by various news outlets (The Quint); (The Indian Express)
Makardhwaj Singh describes Kedar Nath Singh as a ‘revolutionary’ leader. He recalls that KN Singh began his political journey circa the 1940s. KN Singh was a member of the freedom movement, and . Kedar Nath Singh was initially member of the Forward Bloc(Marxist) (now well known as All India Forward Bloc(AIFB)). After a split in the Forward Bloc, KN Singh joined the Joglekar faction, which was named Forward Communist Party(FCP). In 1952 when the FCP split in two, KN Singh joined the Bolshevik Party of India (BPI).
Kedar Nath Singh was an influential leader in the areas of Teghra, Barauni, Begusarai, Balia, and Bakhari.
Additional Trivia: Kedar Nath Singh was a relative of the well known ancient history scholar in India, RS Sharma.(The Telegraph)
Communism in Begusarai – Leningrad
Note that Kedar Nath Singh’s area of work was centered in and around modern day Begusarai. Have a look at the map attached below.
Begusarai’s appeal towards Communist leaders, and Communism is well-known. That this trend has a long past, may surprise some. On chatting with the people of Begusarai, Supriya Sharma, of the Scroll.in, and Law Kumar Mishra from the Times of India, (reporting independently of each other) find the following story on the rise and stronghold of Communism in Bihar:-
Ram Charitra Singh, an important freedom struggle leader, hailing from Bihat, won the assembly election from Teghra in 1952, the first assembly elections of Bihar. Subsequently, the Indian National Congress refused to give him a ticket in 1957. Unfazed by this, Ram Charitra Singh, contested the election as an independent, and won. In the next election (1962), Ram Charitra Singh’s son, Chandrashekhar contested election on a a Communist Party of India (CPI) ticket. The rest is history.
The Barauni assembly seat (earlier Teghra), remained a safe seat for the Communist Party of India from 1962 to 2010, until the seat was swept away in the Nitish-JD(U) wave. Hence, the reason, why media outlets reported, Lalan Kumar’s (JDU) 2010 victory in Teghra as the fall of Leningrad. Apart from Barauni, the Bacchwara, Matihani, and Begusarai assembly seats, have all been inundated significantly by the Communist Party from time to time. A more comprehensive analysis of Begusarai’s affinity towards Left politics, may be the subject of a future post, however, it is beyond the scope of this post.
Bhoodan Movement – Vinobha Bhave
In his incendiary speech, Kedar Nath Singh, makes a mention of Vinoba Bhave. He says that, the Congress have sent him [Bhave] here, to divert the attention of the Biharis.
It is surprising that KN Singh, being a communist himself, was opposed to Bhave, and used such strong language for him. (¶ 2 of judgement, “him [Bhave] wearing a langoti”). There are quite a few reasons, that explain (not justify) his resentment towards Bhave. First, Bhave received backing from the congress. And second, as noted in The World Today (Chatham House) [1958], the Communist Party of India declared Bhave, as an “unwitting tool of the capitalist.” The CPI believed that Bhave was an important cause of the delay in the socialist revolution in India.
Bhave in Bihar
In Bihar, Bhave collected 4,00,000 acres towards the Bhoodan Movement. However, not all this could reach to the landless rural population (something that Kedar Nath perhaps foresaw). As the World Today (1958) notes, on many occasions, inferior quality land was donated, in some places scattered strips of lands were donated in other places, in other places, the land offer was withdrawn as soon as Bhave left the village.
Particularly in UP and Bihar, programmes like Bhoodan, land ceiling, and land reforms was met with displeasure from the land-owning communities (zamindars/bhumihars). These zamindars moved, not once but twice to block the implementation of land reforms. [Idea for a future post perhaps]
Notes 
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