[bestbits] Fwd: [ISOC] [Internet Policy] Misuse of : section 66 A IT act of Indian government

Tue Mar 24 12:22:15 EDT 2015

Carolina

Even though the Government argued that the purpose of the Act was not to
curtail freedom of expression, the result was exactly that, intended or
unintended. It is comforting to hear of this judgement by the Supreme Court
of India.

Sivasubramanian M

Sivasubramanian M <https://www.facebook.com/sivasubramanian.muthusamy>

On Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 8:36 PM, Carolina Rossini <
carolina.rossini at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: anubhuti yadav <anubhutiy at gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 2:49 AM
> Subject: Re: [ISOC] [Internet Policy] Misuse of : section 66 A IT act of
> Indian government
> To: Krishna Kumar <krznakumar at gmail.com>
> Cc: "isoc-members-announce at elists.isoc.org" <
> isoc-members-announce at elists.isoc.org>, isocconnect at isoc.org, "
> internetpolicy at elists.isoc.org" <internetpolicy at elists.isoc.org>, "<
> inforum at isoc.org>" <inforum at isoc.org>
>
>
> In a landmark judgment, Supreme Court has struck down Section 66A  of the
> IT Act. In their order, the court said, Section 66A is violative of Article
> 19(1)(a), not saved by Article 19(2), hence unconstitutional.
>
> The division bench said  public's right to know is directly affected by
> Section 66A of Information Technology Act.  The apex court also
> said Section 66A of IT Act clearly affects Right to Freedom of Speech
> <http://www.dnaindia.com/topic/freedom-of-speech> and Expression
> enshrined under Constitution.
>
> SC, however, refused to strike down two other provisions of the IT Act
> that provide blocking of sites.
>
> Thr Court said there is a difference between discussion, advocacy and
> incitement.Discussion & advocacy, no matter how annoying, is allowed said
> the division bench in it's judgment. Court while delivering the verdict
> said liberty and liberty of thought is of paramount importance in a country
> like India
>
> *11:37 ISTTuesday, 24 March 2015*
>
> Former Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tiwary has welcomed
> the judgment. He said that the law was misused too often and hence it
> needed to go.
>
> *11:26 ISTTuesday, 24 March 2015*
>
>  Rinu Srinivasan, one of the girls who was arrested under the section for
> a Facebook post on Bal Thackeray welcome the decision of Supreme Court. She
> said, "If this law is repealed it may encourage people to speak up and
> against all the wrong in the world".  "I am very happy. I feel like we have
> received justice after two years," she said.
>
> ......................................................
>
> A bench of justices J Chelameswar and R F Nariman had on February 26
> reserved its judgement after Government concluded its arguments contending
> that section 66A of the Information Technology Act cannot be "quashed"
> merely because of the possibility of its "abuse".
>
> Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had said that the Government did
> not want to curtail the freedom of speech and expression at all which is
> enshrined in the Constitution, but the vast cyber world could not be
> allowed to remain unregulated.
>
> However, the court had said that terms like 'illegal', 'grossly offensive'
> and 'menacing character' were vague expressions and these words were likely
> to be misunderstood and abused. Some of the petitions seek setting aside of
> section 66A of the Information Technology Act which empowers police to
> arrest a person for allegedly posting offensive materials on social
> networking sites.
>
> The first PIL on the issue was filed in 2012 by a law student Shreya
> Singhal, who sought amendment in Section 66A of the Act, after two girls --
> Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan -- were arrested in Palghar in Thane
> district as one of them posted a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai
> following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death and the other 'liked' it.
>
> The apex court had on May 16, 2013, come out with an advisory that a
> person, accused of posting objectionable comments on social networking
> sites, cannot be arrested without police getting permission from senior
> officers like IG or DCP.
>
> The direction had come in the wake of numerous complaints of harassment
> and arrests, sparking public outrage. It had, however, refused to pass an
> interim order for a blanket ban on the arrest of such persons across the
> country.
>
> source:
> http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-live-supreme-court-strikes-down-section-66a-of-it-act-2071523
>
> On Tue, Mar 24, 2015 at 11:34 AM, Krishna Kumar <krznakumar at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> This news should offer some hope! :)
>>
>> Striking down any attempt at curbing the freedom of expression on the
>> internet, the Supreme Court today ruled that Section 66A of the IT Act is
>> "unconstitutional".
>>
>> http://www.thenewsminute.com/news_sections/3358
>>
>>
>>
>> Best Regards,
>>
>> Krishna Kumar
>> Secretary - Internet Society India Chennai
>> Mail: krznakumar at gmail.com
>> Mobile: +91 97905 23076
>> Skype: rkrzna
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 23, 2015 at 3:10 PM, srajukanumuri <srajukanumuri at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear Members ,
>>>
>>>    One option we can have as all ISOC global chapters members or ISOC ,
>>> internet policy board can have common letter addressed to Indian PM, HMO
>>> and supreme court Judges who are dealing this case. International human
>>> rights can also
>>> address this issue.  THE TSHWANE PRINCIPLES : GLOBAL PRINCIPLES ON
>>> NATIONAL SECURITY AND THE RIGHT TO INFORMATION addressed this issue. During
>>> IGF and Netmundial we must address this issue as serious matter for all open
>>> internet citizens of world. Under ISOC , Internet policy or IGF if we
>>> create a global team or List serve to help citizens of world
>>> who are facing problems with lousy laws.
>>>
>>> Kanumuri s raju
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> *Dr. Anubhuti Yadav*
> *Associate Professor, New Media*
> *Indian Institute of Mass Communication*
> *Aruna Asaf Ali Marg*
> *New Delhi*
> *Ph. no 9868942789 <9868942789>*
>
> _______________________________________________
> To manage your ISOC subscriptions or unsubscribe,
> please log into the ISOC Member Portal:
> https://portal.isoc.org/
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>
>
>
> --
> --
> *Carolina Rossini *
> *Vice President, International Policy*
> *Public Knowledge*
> *http://www.publicknowledge.org/ <http://www.publicknowledge.org/>*
> + 1 6176979389 | skype: carolrossini | @carolinarossini
>
>
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