New Delhi
The Supreme Court Friday issued notice to the central government and four states on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of legal provisions for trying those who post annoying or inconvenient comments on Facebook, Twitter or other social networking sites.
A bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice J.Chelameswar issued the notice - also to Maharashtra, West Bengal, Puducherry and Delhi - during the hearing of a public interest litigation plea field by Shreya Singhal.
Earlier, Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati told the court that Section 66A of the Information Technology Act has been grossly abused. Vahanvati welcomed the court's intervention.
However, he said that per se there was nothing wrong with the section 66A and defended it. He told the court to "examine Section 66A of the IT Act and I will assist the court."
Vahanvati told the court about the guidelines issued by the telecommunication ministry which provide for prior nod of the director general of police and inspector general of police in rural area and metros for trying a person under Section 66A.