The Supreme Court (SC) heard the People’s Union of Civil Liberties’ (PUCL) Application seeking directions to ensure that authorities do not prosecute individuals under S.66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000), considering the SC has struck down S.66A as unconstitutional in Shreya Singhal v Union of India & Ors., (2015) 5 SCC 1. Since the last date of hearing, 12 High Courts, 10 States and 1 Union Territory (UT) replied to the Application and several of them admitted that S. 66A cases were still pending in their jurisdiction. Today, after hearing submissions from counsels, SC directed Advocate Zoheb Hossain, the counsel for the Union of India, to write to States where S.66A cases are pending, on behalf of the Supreme Court of India, and impress upon them the need to take remedial measures. Senior Advocate Sanjay Parikh represented PUCL and IFF provided legal assistance.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://internetfreedom.in/sc-directs-states-to-take-remedial-measures-regarding-pending-66a-cases/