NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that no person should be arrested for posting objectionable comments on social networking sites without permission of senior police officials.
The SC has also directed all states and UTs to comply with Centre’s advisory on arresting people for their comments on websites.
The court on Wednesday had agreed to hear a plea seeking to restrain government authorities from taking any coercive action against anyone for posting alleged objectionable comments on social networking sites.
An application was filed before the apex court seeking its direction to the authorities not to take action for posting such comments during the pendency of a case before it pertaining to constitutional validity of section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The section states that any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or communication device, any information that was grossly offensive or has a menacing character could be punished with imprisonment for a maximum term of three years, besides imposition of appropriate fine.
