The Privy Council has dismissed an appeal from Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha Secretary General Vijay Maharaj regarding a challenge to parts of T&T’s Sedition Act.

Mr Maharaj continued the case after his predecessor and father, Satnarayan Maharaj, died in 2019.

In April 2019, Mr. Sat Maharaj criticized Tobagonians on his TV programme, leading to a warning from the Telecommunications Authority and police searches at Mr Maharaj’s office.

A challenge to the Sedition Act was filed and while High Court Judge Frank Seepersad ruled that aspects of the law were unconstitutional, the decision was subsequently overturned by the Court of Appeal in 2021.

That last decision was challenged in the Privy Council, which this morning rejected arguments that the Act was unconstitutional because it is incompatible with Section 1 of the Constitution.

The judgement also pointed out, among other things, that while Section 4 of the Constitution protects the right to freedom of expression, Section 6 insulates existing laws from being incompatible with that right.