While we focus on actions and recommendations in the context of Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 (as amended in 2008), these recommendations may be applied where any provision of law is declared unconstitutional.
- 24th March 2020 marked the fifth anniversary of the Supreme Court of India’s landmark decision in Shreya Singhal v Union of India [AIR 2015 SC 1523], where it struck down Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act 2000 (as amended) (hereinafter referred to as “Section 66A”).
- As evidenced by our research, Section 66A is still being invoked to prosecute people. This conclusion is also supported by decisions reported by legal databases and recent media reports which highlight that Section 66A is still being invoked at all levels from the police station to trial courts, and all the way to the High Courts. At this stage, we would once again like to clarify, as noted in our methodology, our research is based on cases at the district level.
- The continued use of Section 66A indicates a major signal failure between the branches of Government. In this sense, signal failure indicates the failure on part of each branch of the Government to convey information to the other branches as well as a failure to effectively disseminate information within their own institutions.