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Shreya Singhal hails SC verdict on section 66A
New Delhi, March 24
Petitioner Shreya Singhal,
who questioned constitutionality of the Information Technology Act's
Section 66A on basis of its "vague wording", hailed the Supreme Court
verdict on Tuesday striking it down, as protection against "blatant
misuse" of the cyber law.
"I am absolutely ecstatic as the Supreme Court upheld the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression.
"It
is only in case of a dissenting voice or a differing opinion that one
can avail his right to freedom of speech. And this verdict protects that
right," Singhal told IANS.
Singhal, who is related to former
union minister Kapil Sibal, the architect of the controversial cyber
law, said the issue was "not political".
"It's not a political
issue for me. I am related to Sibal but that connection has nothing to
do with what I did," said the 24-year-old second-year law student at
Delhi University who had moved the apex court in 2012 following the
arrest of two girls - Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan - for posting
comments critical of Mumbai shutdown called to pay homage to Shiv Sena
chief Bal Thackeray who died in November 2012.
"I was so much
shocked at the blatant misuse of a section worded so vaguely. It was
open to misuse from the very beginning," she said.
"Social media
is a platform that allows the quintessential Indian to post thoughts and
diverse opinion online. How can you curb a tool like that?" she asked.
Describing
social media as an "agent of change", Singhal said: "It's one thing to
restrict (expression) and another thing to gag it."
Despite
opposition from social media enthusiasts, the Congress-led United
Progressive Alliance government introduced the provision in 2008.
Notwithstanding
the displeasure among netizens, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National
Democratic Alliance retained it after coming to power in May 2014.
"Governments,
guided by their political agenda, will come and go whereas laws are
here to stay. But we can't have unconstitutional law stay for long as
it affected the life of a common man," said Singhal who hails from a
family of lawyers and politicians.
Her mother Manali is a Supreme
Court lawyer while her great-grandfather H.R. Gokhale was the law and
justice minister in then prime minister Indira Gandhi's cabinet in the
1970s.