66a

FOR I ss ue 1 -Whet hert he vague descr i pti on ofvar i ousact sconst i t ut i ng an offence under sect i on 66 a wi t hout any descr i pti on of pr escr i pti on of st andar d i s vi ol at i ve of f undame mental f r eedoms ms guar ant eed by t he const i t ut i onornot?  Thats ec t i on66Aofi nf or mat i ont ec hnol ogyActs houl dbeabol i s hedbecausei t r ai ses ver yi mport antand f ar r eachi ng quest i ons r el at abl e pri mari l yt ot he f undame ment alri ghtoff r eespeechandexpr essi on guar ant eedbyArt i cl e19( 1) ( a) oft heConst i t ut i on ofI ndi a.Thei mmedi at ecausef orconcerni nr espectoft he casesr el at ed t ot he Sect i on 66A oft heI nf orma mat i on Tec hnol ogy Actof2000 shoul dbet akenwi t hduer egar d. Thi sSect i on wasnoti nt heActasori gi nal l y enact ed,butcame mei nt of or cebyvi r t ueofanAmendmentActof2009wi t heffect f r om 27. 10. 2009.

“66A. Puni shm me ent f or sendi ng offensi ve mes sages t hr oughcomm m muni cat i on servi ce,et c.  —Any per son who sends, by means of a comput er r esour ceoracomm mmuni cat i on devi ce, —  ( a) any i nf ormat i on t hat i s gr oss l y offensi ve or has menaci ngchar act er ;or ( b)any i nf orma mat i on whi ch he knows wst o be f al se,butf or t he purpose of causi ng annoyance, i nconveni ence, danger ,obst ructi on,i nsul t ,i nj ury,cri mi nali nt i mi dati on,

enmi t y,hat r ed ori l lwi l l ,pers i st ent l y by maki ng use of suchcomput err esour ceoracommuni cat i on devi ce;or ( c)anyel ectr oni cmai lorel ectr oni cmai lmessagef ort he pur pose of causi ng annoyance or i nconveni ence or t o decei ve or t o mi sl ead t he addr ess ee or reci pi ent about t he ori gi n of such messages ,s hal l be puni shabl e wi t h i mpri sonmentf orat er m whi chmayext endt othr eeyear s andwi t hfine. Expl anat i on. — For t he pur poses of t hi s sect i on,t er ms “el ect r oni cmai l ”and “el ect r oni cmai lmess age”meansa mes sage or i nf or mat i on cr eat ed or t r ansmi t t ed or r ecei ved on a comput er , comput er syst em, comput er r esour ceorcommuni cat i on devi cei ncl udi ngatt achment s i nt ext ,i mage, audi o, vi deo and any other el ect r oni c r ecor d,whi chmaybet r ansmi t t edwi t ht hemessage.

1. 1

Thatpet i t i onerr espect f ul l ysubmi t sbef or et hi shonor abl ecour tt hat t heverybasi sofSect i on 66A -t hati thasgi venr i set onew f ormsof cr i mes -i si ncor r ec t ,and t hatSec t i ons 66B t o 67C and v ar i ous Sec t i ons of t he I ndi an Penal Code ( whi ch wi l l be r ef er r ed t o he r e i naf t e r )ar eg oo de no ug ht ode alwi t hal lt he s ec r i me s .

1. 2

Thati ti sper t i nentt o ment i on her et hatfir stand f or emostSec t i on 66A i nf r i ngest he f undament alr i ghtt of r ee speech and expr ess i on

andi snotsavedbyanyoft heei ghtsubj ect scover edi n Ar t i cl e19( 2) .  As i ti sc ausi ng ofannoyance,i nconv eni enc e,danger ,obs t r uct i on, i ns ul t ,i nj ur y ,c r i mi nali nt i mi dat i on,e nmi t y ,hat r e d ori l l wi l lar eal l out si det hepurvi ew ofArt i cl e19( 2) . Furt her ,i n cr eat i ngan offence, Sec t i on 66A suffer sf r om t hevi ceofvaguenes sbec auseunl i ke t he offencecr eat edby Sect i on 66 oft hesameAct ,noneoft heaf or esai d t er msar eev en at t e mpt ed t o be defined and cannotbe defined,t he r esul tbei ngt hati nnocentper sonsarer opedi n aswel last hosewho arenot .Such per sonsarenott ol d cl ear l yon whi ch si deoft hel i ne t heyf al l ;and i twoul d beopen t ot heaut hori t i est o beasar bi t r ary and whi msi calast heyl i ke i n booki ngsuch per sonsundert hesai d Sec t i on. I nf act ,a l ar ge number ofi nnocent per sons have bee n  booked and manyi ns t anceshav ebeen gi v en i nt hef or m ofanot et o t heCour t . Theenf or cementoft hesai d Sect i on woul dr eal l ybean i nsi di ousf orm ofcensor shi pwhi chi mpai r sacor eval uecont ai nedi n  Ar t i c l e19( 1) ( a) . 1. 3 Thatagai ni ti sper t i nentt oment i on her et hatAr t i cl es14 and21ar e al so br eached i nasmuch t her ei s no i nt el l i gi bl e di ffer ent i a bet ween t hosewhouset hei nt er ne tandt hosewhobywor dsspokenorwr i t t en useot he rmedi umsofcommuni cat i on.Topuni sh somebodybec ause he us es a par t i cul ar medi um

of communi cat i on i s i t sel fa

di s c r i mi nat or yobj e c tandwo ul df al lf o ulo fAr t i c l e14i nanyc as e .

Case1.I n RomeshThapparv .St at eofMadr as,[ 1950]S. C. R.594 at602,  Thatt hi sCour ts t at edt hatf r e edom ofspeec hl ayatt hef oundat i onof al lde moc r a t i cor g a ni z at i o ns .

Case2.I n Bennet tCol eman & Co.& Or s.v.Uni on ofI ndi a& Or s. [ 1973]2S. C. R.757at829,  That t he f r eedom ofspeec h and oft he pr ess i st he Ar k oft he CovenantofDemocr acy becausepubl i c cr i t i ci sm i s ess ent i alt ot he  wor ki ngofi t si ns t i t ut i ons.

Case3.I nS.Khushboov.Kanni amal& Anr . ,( 2010)5SCC 600  Thi sCour ts t at ed,i npar agr aph 45t hatt hei mpor t anceoff r eedom of speec handexpr es si ont houghnotabsol ut ewasnec es sar yaswenee d t ot ol er at e unpopul ar vi ews. Thi sr i ght r equi r es t he f r ee flow of opi ni ons and i deas essent i al t o sust ai nt he col l ect i ve l i f e of t he ci t i z enr y . Whi l e an i nf or med ci t i z enr y i s a pr econdi t i on f or meani ngf ulgover nance,t he cul t ur eofopen di al ogue i sgener al l y of g r e a ts o c i e t ali mpo r t anc e .  Toj us t i f ys uppr essi onoff r eespeec ht her emus tber e asonabl egr ound t of e art hats er i ousev i lwi l lr e s ul ti ff r e es pe ec hi spr ac t i c ed.

Cas e4.I n  Abr amsv.Uni t edSt at es,250US616( 1919) ,  That“ mar ke tpl ace ofi deas”c onc eptt hathas per me at ed Amer i can Law.Thi s was puti nt he f el i ci t ous wor ds ofJust i ceHol mesi n hi s f amousdi sse nt .t hus: “ But when me n hav er eal i z ed t hat t i me has upse t many fight i ngf ai t hs,t heymaycomet obel i ev eeve nmor et han t hey  bel i ev et he v er yf oundat i ons oft he i rown conductt hatt he ul t i mat ego odde s i r e di sbe t t e rr e ac he dbyf r e et r adei ni de as t hatt hebe s tt e s toft r ut hi st hepo we ro ft ho ug htt og e ti t s e l f accept ed i nt hecompet i t i on oft hemarket ,and t hatt r ut hi s t he onl y gr ound upon whi c ht he i r wi s hes s af e l y can be

car r i e d out . That at any r at e i s t he t heor y of our Cons t i t ut i on. ”

 Thatt heSect i on 66A ofI nf or mat i on Te c hnol ogy Actasuncons t i t ut i onaland st r ucki tdownwi t hi mmedi at eeffect. Thi ssec t i on hadbeenwi del ymi susedby po l i c ei nv ar i o uss t at e st oar r e s ti nno ce ntpe r s o nsf o rpo s t i ngc r i t i c alc omme nt s aboutsoci aland pol i t i cali ssues and pol i t i call eader s on soci alnet worki ng s i t e s  T . hi s sect i on hi tatt he r ootofl i ber t y and f r e edom ofexpr essi on,t wo c ar di nalpi l l ar so fde mo c r a cy .  Thi ssec t i onhast obeer asedf r om t hel aw books asi thasgonemuchbeyondt her easonabl er est r i ct i onsputbyt heConst i t ut i on on f r ee dom ofspeec h becauses ec t i on 66A wasvaguel ywor dedandal l owedi t s mi susebypol i ce. Counselon behal fofpet i t i onerwoul dl i ket opr aybef oret hi shonorabl ecourt t hatse ct i on 66 A ofI nf or mat i on Tec hnol ogyAct2000 shoul dbequashedand he l dunc ons t i t ut i o nal .

I ss ue2.Whet hert heoffencepuni shabl eundersect i on 66A shal lbemade cogni zabl eornot?  ThatGener al l y ,cogni z abl eoffencemeansapol i ceofficerhast heaut hor i t yt o make an arr es twi t houta warr ant .The pol i ce i s al so al l owed t o st artan i nv e s t i g at i o n wi t ho rwi t ho utt hepe r mi s s i onofac our t .Byc ont r as t ,i nt hec as e ofanoncogni zabl eoffence,apol i ceofficerdoesnothavet heaut hori t yt omake an arr estwi t houtawarr antandan i nves t i gat i on cannotbei ni t i at edwi t houta

courtorder .Thepol i cecanfil eaFi r stI nf ormat i on Report( FI R)o nl yi nc as e so f cogni zabl eoffences.Normal l y ,ser i ousoffencesaredefinedascogni zabl e;t hese usual l ycarryasent enceof3year sormore .  Thather e Ar t i c l e14i sal soi nf r i ngedi nt hatanoffe ncewhosei ngr edi ent sar e  v aguei n nat ur ei sar bi t r ar yand unr easonabl eand woul dr esul ti n ar bi t r ar y and di scr i mi nat ory appl i cat i on of t he cr i mi nal l aw. Fur t her ,t her ei s no i nt el l i gi bl e di ffer ent i a bet ween t he medi um ofpri nt ,br oadcast ,and r eall i ve speechasopposed t ospeechon t hei nt er netand,t her ef ore ,new cat egori esof cr i mi naloffence sc annotbemadeont hi sgr ound. Si mi l aroffenceswhi char e commi t t edon t hei nt er nethaveat hr eey earmaxi mum se nt enceunderSec t i on 66A asoppos e dt ode f amat i onwhi c h hasat woye armaxi mum se nt ence .Al so , def amat i on i sanoncogni z abl eoffencewher easunderSec t i on 66A t heoffence i sc og ni z abl e .

Fr om al egalper spect i ve,sect i on 66 A i spoorl ydr af t ed on amaj orpoi ntand t hati sCogni zabl eoffence.I tmeanst hatapol i ceofficerhast heaut hor i t yt o make an ar r es twi t houta warr ant .The pol i ce ar e al so al l owed t o st ar tan i nv e s t i g at i o nwi t ho rwi t ho utt hepe r mi s s i o no fac our t .  To putt hi si n al ayman’ sl anguage,i fpubl i cpos tsome t hi ng.A pol i c eofficer doesnotl i kei t .Heorshecan arr esta per son i mmedi at el y ,wi t houtneedi ng anyone’ s per mi ss i on.The y do notneed a courtofl aw t oi ss ue any ar r es t  war r ant ,ore v en a seni ort o gi v ei ns t r uct i ons on t hi si ssue.Leavi ng t ot he pol i ce t he i nt er pr et at i on of an ove r l ybr oad l aw t o r es t r i ct f r eedom of expr essi on,onewhi chbr i ngsi nt oexi st enceent i r el ynew offencesanddoesnot r ecal lc hecks and bal ances f or exi st i ng ones,onl yf ur t her aggr avat es t he

po t e nt i alf o ri nappr opr i at eandar bi t r ar yappl i c at i o no ft hel a w.I nt heabs e nc e ofcl earl y defined t hr eshol ds f orcri mi nal i sat i on,pol i ce have no yar dst i ck t o assessasi t uat i onbybutt hei rown.

 That e v en whe n t he l aw i s appr opr i at e l y speci fic and hi gh and r obus t t hr eshol dshavebeenart i cul at ed,t heassess mentandadj udi cat i on ofeach set off act sshoul d,asUN Speci alRappor t euron Fr ee dom ofExpr es si on Fr ankLa Rue has r emi nded us,be done by “ a body t hati si ndependentofpol i t i cal , co mmer ci alor ot he r unwar r ant ed i nfluence si n a manne rt hat i s nei t he r ar bi t r ary nor di scr i mi nat ory ,and wi t h adequat e saf eguar ds agai nstabuse” . Because oft he f ar r eachi ng consequences ofi nappr opr i at e appl i cat i ons of r e s t r i c t i o ns o nf r e e do m o fe x pr e s s i o n,i nc l udi ng a po s si bl er i ppl i ng c hi l l i ng e ffe c to nf r e es pe e c h,i ti st he r e f o r eadv i s abl et hatanyl a wt hats e e kst oi mpo s e r es t r i ct i ons on t he r i ghtt of r eedom ofs peec h and expre ssi on i nI ndi a be cl assi fiedasanoncogni zabl eoffence.