Days after the Supreme Court expressed shock at people still being booked under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and issued a notice to the Centre on the same, the government on Wednesday said that cases cannot be registered under the now-defunct section.
The Home Ministry on Wednesday directed states and union territories to ask the police to stop registering cases under the section, which was scrapped by the apex court in 2015. It also said that any such cases under the section should be withdrawn with immediate effect, the order which was released on Wednesday evening said.
The controversial Section 66A gave police the power to arrest anyone for posting or sharing "offensive" content online. The law was scrapped by the Supreme Court in a landmark judgement in 2015.
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Earlier in July, the Supreme Court termed as “amazing” and “shocking” that people are still being booked under the defunct section.
“Don’t you think this is amazing and shocking? Shreya Singhal judgement is of 2015. It’s really shocking. What is going on is terrible,” a bench of Justices R F Nariman, K M Joseph and B R Gavai said, while issuing a notice to the Centre on an application filed by NGO, ''Peoples Union For Civil Liberties'' (PUCL).
Parikh has also said that despite express directions of the court in 2019 that all state governments should sensitise police personnel about the March 24, 2015 judgement, thousands of cases have been registered under the section.
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The bench at the time said, “Yes, we have seen those figures. Don’t worry we will do something”.
(With inputs from PTI)
