Congress repentant; Left lauds apex court’s ‘defence of civil liberties’

While the Centre welcomed the Supreme Court order, the Congress seemed to be repenting for amending the legislation when in power.

The CPI(M) said its stand has been vindicated by the Supreme Court verdict.

The Congress said the party has been the champion of freedom of expression, democratic dissent and right to criticise.

“We, however, are deeply conscious of the fact that one person’s individual liberty of expression cannot unilaterally infringe upon another person’s liberty. This reasonable restriction is recognised even in Article 19 (2) of Constitution of India,” the party said in a statement.

It said Section 66A was included to prevent online abuse and hounding of groups and individuals, check propagation of obscene information with the intent to create social divide and unrest and deter unbridled defamation in cyberspace.

“Congress Party had weaved in various safeguards in Section 66 A including putting a conditionality of making of arrest only after examination and seeking permission from IG/SP level officer. Supreme Court, it appears, had not found the safeguards sufficient,” the party said.

It urged the Centre to re-examine the issue threadbare and strike an appropriate balance by upholding freedom of expression, democratic dissent and right to criticise on one hand and prevent abuse through and defamation in cyberspace.

CPI (M) MP P Rajeeve, who had a statutory motion against the Section in the Rajya Sabha, said his stand has been vindicated by the apex court verdict.

“The Congress and the BJP were competing to protect the controversial section. We have been maintaining that it won’t pass the legal scrutiny by courts,” he said.

The CPI(M) Polit Bureau said the judgment has come out in defence of civil liberties and fundamental rights of citizens. “The draconian provision of 66A was used to arrest people who express dissenting views against the government and the State and to suppress criticism of those in power,” it added.

The Aam Aadmi Party, which has a vibrant presence on the Net, welcomed the verdict.

“The Court has rightly ruled that the Section was violative of our constitutional right to free speech. Restrictions can only be put in place in cases of incitement to violence, not mere ‘offense and annoyance’. We are happy that the bizarrely implemented Section 66A which had criminalised class XI students and netizens worried about being ‘annoying’ and ‘inconvenient’ has been struck down by the Supreme Court,” the party added.