The United Progressive Alliance faced a different kind of attack from the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. The Centre was charged with unleashing “legislative terrorism” and “passing laws in a hurry and worrying leisurely”.

Sparks flew in the Upper House as it took up a private member resolution moved by P. Rajeeve (CPI-M) during the post-lunch session to amend the controversial Section 66-A of the IT Act.

The Section has come under scrutiny after the Maharashtra police arrested two girls in Palghar for their comments on Facebook against the Mumbai shutdown for Bal Thackeray’s funeral. Under the Section, a person can be imprisoned up to three years for any violation.

Responding to the members, Telecom and IT Minister Kapil Sibal conceded that there has been a misuse of the Act in some States but said “the misuse is not rampant”. However, the Centre will soon issue an advisory to the States, he said.

Moving the resolution, Rajeeve said: “The problem is with the Act itself, which needs to be amended... This is a blot on Indian democracy. I am not against the regulation of Internet use but I am not in favour of controlling the use of the Internet,” he said.

BJP’s Gyanprakash Pilania said that, under the Section, even an April fool joke on the social networking sites can land a person in jail.Condemning the police action, Santaram Naik of the Congress said, however, that such incidents do not warrant amendments to the Act.

D. Bandopadhyay (TMC) demanded that crimes under IPC should be incorporated under the IT Act, while Baishnab Parida (BJD) said if the Act is not amended, there will be several instances of it being misused.

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