States’ onus to stop filing cases: Govt to SC

THE CENTRE FILED THE AFFIDAVIT DAYS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT TOOK STRONG EXCEPTION TO THE FACT THAT THERE WAS A FIVEFOLD INCREASE IN REGISTRATION OF CASES UNDER SECTION 66A

NEW DELHI: The central government has told the Supreme Court that it is the primary duty of states and Union Territories to stop registering cases under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act after the provision was quashed by the apex court in 2015.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court said it was “shocking” and “distressing” that there was a fivefold increase in the registration of cases under Section 66A though the provision was quashed.

Submitting its affidavit, the Centre said that although 21 states and UTs have reported compliance with the 2015 judgment in their letters to the ministry of information and technology, the buck stopped with the law enforcement agencies under the state governments to ensure no fresh cases were lodged under Section 66A of the IT Act.

“It is submitted that ‘police’ and ‘public order’ are state subjects as per the Constitution of India and prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of crimes and capacity building of police personnel as primarily responsibility of states,” said the affidavit filed on July 27 in the court.

Based on inputs from the ministry of home affairs and the IT ministry, the Centre said: “The law enforcement agencies take legal action as per provisio=ns of law against cyber crime offenders. Accordingly, (it is) the LEAs’ equal responsibility to comply with the said judgment/order by Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

The affidavit was filed days after the bench, headed by justice Rohinton F Nariman, took strong exception to the fact that there was a fivefold increase in registration of cases under Section 66A after the provision was held to be “unconstitutional” and “void” by the court.

The application by NGO People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) revealed that there were 229 cases pending in 11 states when the Supreme Court in March 2015 struck down the much-abused Section 66A of the IT Act, which authorised police to arrest people for social media posts construed “offensive” or “menacing”. After the law was quashed, the police in these states went on to lodge 1,307 new cases under the same provision.

Senior advocate Sanjay Parikh, appearing for the NGO, lamented that even after the Supreme Court in February 2019 asked the chief secretaries and director generals of police of all states and UTs to ensure that the 2015 judgment was widely publicised, the situation on the ground did not change. On July 5, the bench called the situation “shocking” and “distressing” when it sought a reply from the Union government on steps taken by them to ensure the implementation of its 2015 judgment.

Submitting its response, the Centre has now said that both the ministries were making every effort to apprise states of the court’s 2015 judgment and have written to all states since 2016 to stop lodging new cases under Section 66A of the IT Act and withdraw such cases.

The latest communication, the affidavit pointed out, was on July 13, when the Union home ministry asked state governments and police chiefs to immediately revoke cases registered under Section 66A of the IT Act.

It said that 21 states wrote to the IT ministry between January and April of 2019, saying they issued suitable directions to the police departments and complied with the 2015 verdict.

The affidavit disclosed that these 21 states did not include Maharashtra, which topped the list in registration of cases after the judgment with 381 cases, followed by Jharkhand (291), and Uttar Pradesh (245).

The Supreme Court will examine the Centre’s reply on Monday, when the case will be heard next.