Centre to SC: IT Act does not curb freedom of expression
12 Jan 2013 6:07 AM IST
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that the controversial provision in the cyber law under which two girls in Maharashtra were arrested for posting comments on Facebook does not curb freedom of speech and alleged ‘highhandedness’ of certain authorities does not mean that its bad in law.
The Maharashtra government, which was also asked to make explanation on the episode, said the arrests of girls in Thane district for making comments on the shutdown of Mumbai for the funeral of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, were ‘unwarranted’ and ‘hasty’, which ‘cannot be justified’.
‘Under section 41 and 41 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure immediate arrest was not required.
The arrests of the accused were hasty and cannot be justified. At the same time, the action was not with malafide intention,’ it said.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, in its affidavit, defended section 66A of the Information Technology Act under which the two girls from Palghar were arrested by Thane police.
‘The alleged highhandedness of certain authorities does not mean that section 66A of the IT Act is bad in law,’ it said.
It said the provision does not curb freedom of expression and speech guaranteed under Article 19(1) of the Constitution, as it does not provide absolute freedom but imposed certain reasonable restrictions.
The Maharashtra government said, ‘In the circumstances aforesaid it is respectfully submitted that the government of Maharashtra has taken a very serious view of the matter relating to the arrest of Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan.
NO PLAN TO AMEND RTI ACT: NARAYANASAMY
There was ‘no plan’ to amend Right to Information Act, union minister V Narayanasamy said, asserting that the Centre was taking various measures to ensure transparent governance.
Addressing a conference here, Narayanasamy also said there was a need to protect whistle blowers exposing corruption in governance. ‘There was a need to protect the persons making a public interest disclosure related to an act of corruption. With this objective in mind, the Whistle Blowers Protection Bill,2011 is being enacted,’ the minister of state for personnel said.
The Maharashtra government, which was also asked to make explanation on the episode, said the arrests of girls in Thane district for making comments on the shutdown of Mumbai for the funeral of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, were ‘unwarranted’ and ‘hasty’, which ‘cannot be justified’.
‘Under section 41 and 41 A of the Code of Criminal Procedure immediate arrest was not required.
The arrests of the accused were hasty and cannot be justified. At the same time, the action was not with malafide intention,’ it said.
The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, in its affidavit, defended section 66A of the Information Technology Act under which the two girls from Palghar were arrested by Thane police.
‘The alleged highhandedness of certain authorities does not mean that section 66A of the IT Act is bad in law,’ it said.
It said the provision does not curb freedom of expression and speech guaranteed under Article 19(1) of the Constitution, as it does not provide absolute freedom but imposed certain reasonable restrictions.
The Maharashtra government said, ‘In the circumstances aforesaid it is respectfully submitted that the government of Maharashtra has taken a very serious view of the matter relating to the arrest of Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Srinivasan.
NO PLAN TO AMEND RTI ACT: NARAYANASAMY
There was ‘no plan’ to amend Right to Information Act, union minister V Narayanasamy said, asserting that the Centre was taking various measures to ensure transparent governance.
Addressing a conference here, Narayanasamy also said there was a need to protect whistle blowers exposing corruption in governance. ‘There was a need to protect the persons making a public interest disclosure related to an act of corruption. With this objective in mind, the Whistle Blowers Protection Bill,2011 is being enacted,’ the minister of state for personnel said.
Next Story
