No more indictment under Section 66A of IT Act: Supreme Court

Source: The post is based on the article “No more indictment under Section 66A of IT Act: Supreme Court” published in The Hindu on 13^th October 2022.

What is the News?

The Supreme Court ordered States and their police forces to stop prosecuting free speech on social media under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act which was declared unconstitutional by the court in a judgment seven years ago.

What is Section 66A of the IT Act?

Section 66A had prescribed three years’ imprisonment if a social media message caused “annoyance” or was found “grossly offensive”.

The SC has struck down Section 66A as “vague” and “chilling”. But despite that the police continued to pick out people and prosecute them under the Section. The court found this as “distressing” and “shocking.”

What did the SC say about section 66A?

The court held that “all Directors General of Police as well as Home Secretaries of the States and competent officers in Union Territories to instruct their entire police force in their respective States/Union Territories not to register any complaint of crime with respect to alleged violation of Section 66A”.

However, the court clarified that this direction would apply only to a charge under Section 66A and not extend to other offences in a case.