The Supreme Court Friday directed all state governments to sensitise their police personnel about its March, 2015 verdict which had scrapped Section 66A of Information Technology Act, so that people are not unnecessarily arrested under the struck down provision.
Recent Verdict:
A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Sanjay Kishan Kaul disposed of the application filed by NGO PUCL alleging that people were still being prosecuted under the scrapped provision i.e. Section 66A of IT Act in 2015.
The Supreme Court asked all the high courts to send the copy of the verdict to all the trial court to avoid people being prosecuted under the scrapped provision which provided for jail term to people who posted offensive content online.
As per the data available, more than 22 prosecutions have taken place till now after the provisions was struck down.
Shreya Singhal Verdict:
Terming liberty of thought and expression “cardinal”, the top court had on March 24, 2015, scrapped the provision saying that “the public’s right to know is directly affected by Section 66A of the Information Technology Act”.
The use of Section 66A of the IT Act is a direct violation of the fundamental rights under Articles 19(1)(a) and 21 of the persons against whom the provision is invoked.
The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by a law student Shreya Singhal who sought an amendment in Section 66A of the Act after two girls were arrested in Maharashtra’s Thane district. While one had posted a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray’s death, the other had ‘liked’ it.
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