Centre directs states to not register cases under section 66A of IT Act

After a rap from the Supreme Court, the Centre on Wednesday asked states not to register cases under repealed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and immediately withdraw pending cases under the section of the law.

“The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has requested States and Union Territories (UTs) to direct all police stations under their jurisdiction not to register cases under the repealed Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000,” an official statement said.

The Supreme Court had struck down Section 66A of the IT Act on March 23, 2015, contending that it was “draconian and unconstitutional”.

“The MHA has also requested that if any case has been booked in States and UTs under section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, such cases should be immediately withdrawn,” the statement said.

The ministry also asked the States and UTs to sensitise law enforcement agencies for the compliance of the order issued by the Supreme Court on March 24, 2015.

The apex Court order of 2015 made Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 null and void with effect from the date of the order, and hence no action could be taken under this section.

The Centre had written to the states at least thrice in 2019 asking them not to register cases using the provision but to no avail.

Even after the section was struck down by the apex court in 2015, 332 cases were filed the same year. In 2016, 216 cases were registered, 290 cases in 2017, 318 in 2018, 253 in 2019 and 34 until February 2020. The data has been collected for Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

Section 66A was passed by both houses of Parliament without any debate in December 2008. The section defined punishment for sending “offensive” messages through a computer or any other communication device like a mobile phone or a tablet. A conviction can fetch a maximum of three years in jail and a fine.

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