Boy held under defunct section 66A for sharing PM’s objectionable photo

Case registered against boy following complaint by BJP leaders

A 15-year-old boy was arrested in Sonbhadra district of eastern Uttar Pradesh for reportedly circulating an objectionable picture of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the social media on Wednesday, police said.

A case was registered against the youth under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act. Section 66A, which provides punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services, was struck down by the Supreme Court in March 2015.

His cell phone has been seized. Police said the boy from a village in Windhamganj police station area of Sonbhadra received the objectionable picture of the prime minister on the instant messaging application WhatsApp.

He shared the picture with two others on the application.

Soon, BJP members came to know about the objectionable picture. A group of party activists gathered at Subhash Trisection in Windhamganj. They shouted slogans against the boy and demanded action against him.

They also staged a demonstration at the police station. Circle officer Laxman Rai assured the BJP workers that strict action would be taken against the youth. Speaking to HT, Rai said, “A case was registered against the boy following a complaint by the BJP leaders.” He added that the case was registered under Section 153 A of the IPC (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 295 A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and under Section 66A of the IT Act.

During interrogation, Rai said that the boy revealed that he got pictures from his relative in Meerut. The police officer claimed that the boy accepted that he shared pictures with two others. When it was pointed out that Section 66A had been struck down, Rai said that he would seek expert opinion from the special prosecution officer and further action would be ensured accordingly.

Asked if any workshop was held by the department to make the police aware that the Section was struck down, Rai said that there might have been a workshop but he had no idea.