Supreme Court says booking people under scrapped 'Section 66A' unlawful
In this regard, the Supreme Court has issued a notice against those involved in registering FIRs, after hearing a petition filed by the People's Union or Civil Liberties (PUCL).
NEW DELHI:
The Supreme Court, on Monday, said that the practice of police registering FIRs under Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, which the apex court had struck down in the 2015 judgement of Shreya Singhal Case is 'unlawful' and a violation of its judgement.
In this regard, the Supreme Court has issued a notice against those involved in registering FIRs, after hearing a petition filed by the People's Union or Civil Liberties (PUCL).
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman expressed 'displeasure' over the increase in the number of cases being reported under the Act, which had been held by the SC judgement.
"What is going on is terrible? Why is it happening (registering FIRs under Section 66A)?" Nariman stated.
PUCL Lawyer, Sanjay Parikh, submitted to the apex about the increase in the number of cases recently and urged the court to issue a notice directing the departments to halt the process.
The SC had in a landmark judgement in 2015, held that Section 66A is not only vague and arbitrary but it also invades the right of free speech.
Over three years after it struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act as unconstitutional, the Supreme Court informed that authorities still continue to book people under the scrapped law.
Section 66A of the IT act was introduced to restrict online speech, which the Apex Court termed as a violation of Artice 19 (1 ) of the constitution of India which guarantees freedom of speech.
(Edited by Shankar Kumar Turha)
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