AAP leader held under 66A hails court ruling

Chennai, March 24 (IANS) "Technically I am a free man now. I am very happy," said AAP leader R. Ravi Srinivasan of Puducherry after the Supreme Court struck down section 66A of the IT Act on Tuesday.

Srinivasan, who is also a businessman, was booked in 2012 under the section on a complaint by Karti P. Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P. Chidambaram.

Reliving the moments of his arrest by Puducherry Police, Srinivasan told IANS: "It was around 5 a.m. on October 30 when policemen knocked at my door. I was taken into custody, and my family didn't know for a long time about my whereabouts." He was let out on bail the same evening.

"The case against me is still on and the next hearing is slated for March 27," he said.

Srinivasan, the secretary of the Puducherry unit of the Aam Aadmi Party, had tweeted reports he had read about Chidambaram, leading to his arrest.

He was arrested following an e-mail complaint by Chidambaram.

Srinivasan said the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party had differing stands on such legal provisions, depending on whether they were in power or in the opposition.

In Tamil Nadu, two people were arrested in 2012 on a complaint by noted playback singer Chinmayi for posting allegedly derogatory comments against her online.