Barring the JD (U) and Shiv Sena, most political parties have welcomed the Supreme Court judgement on Section 66A IT Act even as the Congress admitted the cyber law, introduced by Kapil Sibal in the UPA regime in 2008, was poorly drafted and vulnerable to misuse.
The Congress, however, sought to deflect criticism by targeting the Modi Government on its stand in the court on the issue. Congress leader P Chidambaram welcomed the judgement but at the same time he said the section was poorly drafted and was vulnerable. “It was capable of being misused and, in fact, it was misused,” he said.
The former Union Minister, who held the Home and Finance portfolios in UPA Government, said there could be a case of misuse of freedom of speech and in such cases ordinary laws should apply and the offender should be dealt with under them. “If some provisions of the law have to be strengthened, that could be considered. But Section 66A was not the answer,” Chidambaram said.
Party spokesperson Sanjay Jha, however, questioned why the Modi Government had “stoutly defended continuity” of the provision in the SC when Narendra Modi had once openly opposed the provision before becoming the PM.
Party MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor also tweeted “Glad the Supreme Court has struck down Section 66A of the IT Act, which was liable to misuse (&has been abused). Freedom must not be curbed.”
CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury termed the judgement as “a big relief”. He said the provision had been used for “political vendetta against some people” which was completely unjustified.
But JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav disagreed saying that though he respects judiciary, it was wrong to strike down the “good” provision as freedom of speech does not mean “freedom to abuse”. NDA constituent Shiv Sena felt it would weaken the hands of law enforcement agencies.
The left parties and AAP accused both BJP and Congress of taking the “same anti-democratic position” on the issue in the court. “It was repeatedly misused by Govts and law enforcement agencies,” the party tweeted.
Shiv Sena demanded that there should be a debate on the issue and steps needed to stop misuse of social media. “With this order, there will be nothing in the hands of the police. Social media is important and it has some important aspects. The social media is being misused in our country. To stop that there should be something or the other to strengthen the hands of law enforcing agencies,” senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut said.