New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) The Supreme Court will on Friday hear an application seeking explanation from Uttar Pradesh government for arresting a school-going boy for sharing on a social networking site a post critical of senior Minister Azam Khan.
Vicky Khan, 19, hails from Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh.
As counsel Manali Singhal mentioned the application before the apex court bench of Justice Anil R. Dave, Justice J. Chelameswar and Justice Kurian Joseph soon after the court assembled after lunch, Justice Chelameswar permitted the filing of the application saying it would be taken up on Friday.
Soon after Manali Singhal mentioned the application, counsel for Uttar Pradesh government said Vicky Khan, who was remanded to 14-day judicial custody, has been let off on bail.
Vicky Khan was booked under various sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, and Indian Penal Code.
As the court was told that boy has been granted bail, Justice Chelameswar who along with Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman had heard and reserved verdict on a batch of petitions challenging Section 66A of I.T. Act, 2000, said they may pronounce judgment either on March 23 or March 24.
"If we uphold the challenge to Section 66A of I.T.Act, 2000 then you can seek relief accordingly or if the challenge to Section 66A is not accepted then you can take recourse to remedies under criminal law," Justice Chelameswar told Manali Singhal.
Manali Singhal told the court that in the course of the hearing of petition by Shreya Singhal challenging Section 66A of I.T. Act, 2000 as unconstitutional, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre had contended that the provision of the I.T. Act would not be invoked against those making political criticism.
Urging the court to hear the application moved by her seeking relief for Vicky Khan, Manali Singhal told the court to let Uttar Pradesh government explain the circumstance under which Vicky Khan was arrested invoking Section 66A.
Shreya Singhal had moved the Supreme Court November 2012 seeking the striking down of Section 66A which was resorted to by the authorities to arrest two young girls -- Shaheen Dhanda, 21, who had questioned the Mumbai shutdown after the death of Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray Nov 17 and her friend Renu Srinivasan who had 'liked' the comment on Facebook.
Singhal had contended that the section was vague and impossible to judge by objective standards, and thus liable to misuse.
Section 66A of the IT Act reads: "Any person who sends by any means of a computer resource any information that is grossly offensive or has a menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine."
CPI upset with Kanhaiya's attitude asked to continue as president and the right to distribute tickets
There is speculation about Kanhaiya Kumar joining the Congress. It is being said that he can join Congress on Tuesday. But the CPI still has no news about it. From party leaders to workers, they are
Hit and Run Law: Assam drivers call for 48-hour strike to protest new provisions
A joint platform of Assam transporter unions has called for a 48-hour strike from Friday to protest against the new penal law on hit-and-run cases. Due to this the movement of all commercial vehicles
IRCTC: India and Nepal will be connected through train, Indian Railways will run a special tourism train from June 21
IRCTC will be the first agency in the country to connect two countries through tourism train under the Bharat Gaurav scheme of the Railways. In an official statement issued by the Indian Railway
SAFF: India's Jackson Singh used Manipur's flag to celebrate becoming champion
Team India has won the title of the SAFF Championship. India defeated Kuwait 5-4 in the penalty shootout in the final played at the Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Tuesday. The score was tied at
Good news: Padikkal returned to the RCB team after defeating Corona, now will make a comeback in IPL
Royal Challengers Bangalore says that opener Devadutt has joined the RCB team's bio bubble. He was a victim of a Corona infection recently. His return will strengthen the team's batting. The first
DC vs KKR Playing 11: Will Kuldeep return in today's match? KKR eyes third win, see possible playing 11
Captain Rishabh Pant's half-century against Chennai Super Kings has boosted the morale of Delhi Capitals. The half-century inning not only brought Pant back into form but also gave Delhi its first win
Fundraising exercise for Twitter: Elon Musk sold 44 lakh shares of Tesla, tweeted saying - I will not do this now
Elon Musk, the world's richest person, has started raising funds to complete the deal with the microblogging platform Twitter. Under this, he has once again sold the shares of his company Tesla. This
NIPAH Virus: How is the situation of Nipah in Kerala, which age group is more at risk? Know all the important things here
The southern state of Kerala is in the grip of a serious and deadly Nipah virus these days. So far two people have died due to the infection, the infection was confirmed in six people. Kozhikode
SBI report reveals: Corona will increase in villages along with cities, to be at the highest level by mid-May
In a report released on Friday by the State Bank of India, it has been claimed that by December 2021, 113.2 crore doses of corona vaccine would have been given to the people. While 15 percent of the
Yogi Adityanath Cabinet: Brajesh Pathak will be the new deputy CM of UP, these faces including Dayashankar Singh can become ministers
Yogi Adityanath Oath: There is only a short time left for Yogi Adityanath to take oath as the CM of UP for the second time. Before that, the presence of some leaders in a meeting held at the residence
