Indian citizens across the country can now post on social media sites without fear! In a landmark judgment today the country’s top court, the Supreme Court of India struck down the draconian Section 66 A of the IT Act in its entirety.The apex court, in one of its lengthiest judgments ever termed the law as ‘unconstitutional’ and said it was ‘fringing on the public’s right to freedom of speech and right to information’. The judgment delivered by Justice Rohinton Nariman in two parts said that the section was ‘vague’ in its wording and mere ‘assurances from the government that the act won’t be misused’ won’t be enough to let it remain functional.
The judgment also said that ‘governments can come and go, but we can’t merely act on the government’s assurance of not misusing it’.
The law that came to being in 2008, has in the past few years been abused multiple times by political parties across the board, as well as parties of ruling coalitions at the State and Centre. A few years ago, two sisters were put behind bars, for posting on Facebook their dissent of the road jams created by the funeral procession of Bal Thackeray. Recently an eleven year old boy was jailed for a Facebook post. There have also been several instances when the ruling government at the Centre has directed social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube to pull down content that the ‘government’ termed offensive, under this very section of the IT Act.
So, what does this decision then mean for the public at large? It means that the Government or any ruling political party or even the police will not be able to arrest and put behind bars any individual in India , basis what he/she posts on any social media forum or views he/she choses to send to acquaintances via email.
This judgement also diffuses the government’s powers to a great degree concerning orders to remove so called ‘objectionable’ content from social media sites and other websites. In fact the apex court today made it very clear, that while the government has the right to seek removal of ‘objectionable’ content from a website, it can however, be implemented only via a court order. In other words, whenever the government wants any content removed from any website, it will first have to appeal in the relevant court, and only basis a court order directing the website to remove the ‘content’, will the government’s desires be fulfilled.
This in effect has a wide ranging impact, given how recently the furor over comic group All India Bakchod’s controversial ‘Roast’ of Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, was forced to be pulled off YouTube, after the ruling Maharashtra government cited the content as ’vulgar’ and objectionable’. Henceforth, any such event will have to be first contested in the court, and the court’s decision alone will be able to ensure that the content is removed.
This decision by the Supreme Court, obviously has garnered huge praises from all quarters, including the main petitioner in the case, Shreya Singh, who said, ‘It’s a big victory. The Supreme Court has upheld the rights of the citizens, since internet today has a far reaching impact. It has been misused by all political parties, be it BJP or Congress or any other political party.’ She further said, ‘I am not advocating that it is right for anyone to defame someone. All I am saying is that no one should fear posting anything online for the fear of being put behind bars.’
Top corporate lawyer, Mahesh Agarwal too welcomed the decision saying, ‘Striking down section 66A of the IT Act is a step in the right direction. It sends a message to one and all that we are a liberal and fair society. Freedom of speech and expression is respected and guaranteed in India without any harsh consequences.’
(Image Courtesy: Hindustan Times)