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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | SC to hear plea to rein in cyber cops

SC to hear plea to rein in cyber cops

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published Published on May 16, 2013   modified Modified on May 16, 2013
-The Telegraph


The Supreme Court will tomorrow hear an application to restrain police from invoking Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, till its constitutional validity is decided by the courts.

A vacation bench scheduled the hearing on a petition seeking a stay on proceedings relating to an FIR lodged against Jaya Vindhyalaya, a civil liberties activist, for posting "objectionable" material on Facebook against Tamil Nadu governor K. Rosaiah and an Andhra Pradesh legislator.

The apex court agreed to hear the application after counsel Manali Singhal, appearing for petitioner Shreya Singhal, said the matter needed urgent consideration in view of Jaya's May 12 arrest in the case.

Jaya was released on bail yesterday by a court in Andhra's Prakasam district. She was arrested by Chirala town police on a complaint by local MLA A. Krishna Mohan.

On an earlier PIL filed by Shreya, the apex court had last November issued notices to the Centre and the Maharashtra government on the arrest of two girls in Mumbai for posting "objectionable" material on the Shiv Sena and the arrest of cartoonist Asim Trivedi.

The petitioner submitted that the Centre had subsequently issued an advisory to all states and Union territories that prior permission of officers of the rank of IG/SP should be obtained for effecting an arrest, but the provisions continued to be abused by police.

According to the petitioner, the original PIL was scheduled for hearing in January this year. But it had not been heard yet and had been listed for July 19.

"What is pertinent to note is that the police have invoked the provisions of Section 66A of IT Act and Section 120-B of the Indian Penal Code," the petition said.

"The applicant states that the most worrisome aspect of the aforesaid arrest is that the media reports suggest that Ms. Vindhyalaya had been opposing the local legislator on various issues... ," it added.

The applicant asserted that the phraseology of Section 66A was too vague and, hence, prone to abuse. So the provision was violative of Article 14 (equality), Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech) and Article 21 (liberty) of the Constitution.

According to the petitioner, the central advisory issued on January 9 - that no arrest under Section 66A could be effected without the prior approval of an officer not below the rank of IG - was not enough to stop possible abuse of Section 66A as was demonstrated by Jaya's arrest. She urged the apex court to issue a directive saying no authority should initiate any coercive steps on the basis of Section 66A till the hearing and final disposal of the petition.


The Telegraph, 16 May, 2013, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130516/jsp/nation/story_16904458.jsp#.UZR-h0rcing


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