The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has requested that any case booked in states and UTs under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 should be immediately withdrawn, a home ministry statement said. The MHA further directed all police stations in the country to not register cases under the repealed Section 66A of the IT Act relating to posting online comments.
The ministry said it has 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 Supreme Court in 2015 had scrapped the controversial IT Act section that made posting “offensive” comments online a crime punishable by jail. The government’s order comes after the top court had recently remarked it was shocking that the judgment has not been implemented even now and issued a notice to the Centre on the use of the section of the law.
In its 2015 judgment in the matter of Shreya Singhal Vs. Union of India, the apex court had struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, making it null and void with effect from the date of the order.
Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 allowed police power to arrest a person for posting “offensive” content online and provided for a three-year jail term.
