Shivangi Prakash-
The Supreme Court issued notice today in a plea stressing the continuous application of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act of 2000, which the Court struck down in 2015.
The bench of Justices Rohinton Nariman, KM Joseph, and BR Gavai issued a notice in a petition filed by the NGO People Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) seeking an instruction to the Centre to advise all police stations against filing FIRs under Section 66A, which the Supreme Court declared unconstitutional on March 24, 2015.
Today, when the case was heard, Justice Nariman said, “Amazing. What is going on is terrible.”
The Court stated it would give notice in response to Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh’s request to investigate these matters.
Attorney General KK Venugopal, speaking on behalf of the central government, said:
“Even if it is struck down by the Division Bench, Section 66A is still there. When police have to register a case, the Section is still there and only has a footnote that the Supreme Court has struck it down. There has to be a bracket in 66A with the words ‘struck down’.”
The Centre was then given two weeks to respond to the Court’s request.
The organisation claims that “shockingly,” Section 66A of the IT Act has continued to be used not only within police stations but also in cases before trial courts across the country in an application filed through Advocate Aparna Bhat.
According to data from the Zombie Tracker Website, as of March 10, 2021, approximately 745 cases ongoing and active before district courts where accused are charged under Section 66 A of the IT Act are still pending and active.
The PUCL has also asked the Union government to issue notices in all major publications, in both English and vernacular languages, telling the public that Section 66A has been repealed and is no longer in effect.
