Top Court directs strict adherence to Shreya Singhal judgment; prohibits prosecution under Section 66A IT Act
Court has clarified that this direction shall apply only to offences punishable under section 66A, and if in the crime in question, other offences are also alleged, then the reference and reliance upon section 66A alone shall be deleted.
Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central government not to prosecute any person under section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which was scrapped by it way back in 2015 in the Shreya Singhal judgment.
Under the said section, a person posting offensive content could be imprisoned for up to three years and also fined.
A CJI UU Lalit led bench has also issued a slew of directions asking the states to make sure that reference to Section 66A is removed from all pending cases.
Court passed these directions while hearing a writ petition filed by the NGO 'Peoples Union for Civil Liberties' which highlighted the issue that Section 66A IT Act was being invoked despite the judgment in Shreya Singhal vs. UOI.
The bench also comprising Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice Ajay Rastogi was supplied with an All-India Status report with regards complaints under Section 66A by Advocate Zoheb Hussain, appearing for the Union of India.
After perusing the same, Court noted that the information provided by Hussain suggested a number of criminal proceedings were still reflected on the provision of Section 66A of the 2000 Act.
Accordingly, the bench went on to direct the Centre and state governments to direct the entire police force not to register any complaint with respect to violation of Section 66A.
"We direct all Director General of Police as well as Home Secretaries of the states and competent officers in Union Territories to instruct the entire police force in their respective states/Union Territories not to register any complaint of crime with respect to alleged violation of section 66A," the bench ordered.
Case Title: PUCL vs. UoI