No one can be arrested for posting allegedly offensive comments on social networking websites unless permission is obtained from a senior police officer, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday.
The apex court’s directions came on a plea challenging the arrest of a rights activist in AP for posting allegedly “objectionable” comments against TN governor K. Rosaiah and a Congress MLA on Facebook. A bench of justices B.S. Chauhan and Dipak Misra directed all states and union territories to follow the Centre’s advisory and refrain from arresting people, under Section 66 A of the IT Act, for posting allegedly objectionable comments on social networking sites unless senior police officials have given their nod for it. The petitioner in the case, law student Shreya Singhal, has also challenged the validity of Section 66 A and had pleaded that no arrests should be made under the controversial Section till the Supreme Court decides on the PIL she had filed earlier.
The apex court, however, refused to pass an interim order for blanket ban on the arrest of a person for making objectionable comments on websites, saying it cannot restrain state governments from making any such arrest as operation of the controversial law pertaining to objectionable comments has not been stayed by the apex court which is still examining its constitutional validity.
The court said all states should abide by the Centre’s advisory till it decides on the validity of the provision. Ms Singhal had in 2012 filed her plea challenging Section 66A, after two girls were arrested in Thane for their Facebook comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray’s death. Following her plea, the Centre had in January issued an advisory stating that permission from an IGP-level police officer is must for making arrests under Section 66 A in metropolitan cities. In rural areas, it said, permission can be sought from an SSP.
Section 66 A of the IT Act states that any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or communication device, any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character could be imprisoned for a maximum term of three years, besides imposition of appropriate fine.