SC seeks UP’s response on student arrested for FB post against Azam

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday sought explanation from Uttar Pradesh government for arresting a class XI student for uploading a objectionable Facebook post against Samajwadi Party strongman Azam Khan.
A bench of Justices J Chelameswar and Rohinton F Nariman said that it would examine whether the state government had followed its guidelines before arresting the student and issued notice to it.The court directed the state to file its response within four weeks.
It, however, refused to stay the operation of Section 66A of Information Technology Act, which makes uploading offensive material on website an offence punishable with a jail term up to three years, because of its misuse by government authorities.
Senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the court should stay the controversial provision as it was being misused.
The bench, which has already reserved its verdict on the validity of the provision, said that the issue would be dealt with in its judgment.
Advocate Gaurav Bhatia, appearing for the state, told the bench that the accused student is not a minor as reported in the media and is 23 years old. He said that the student has been booked not only under Section 66A but also other provisions of Indian Penal Code.
“We will examine the issue. You file your response,” the bench told the UP government.
The Court had earlier said that no person should be arrested for posting objectionable comments on social networking sites without taking prior permission from senior police officials. It had directed all state governments to ensure strict compliance of the Centre's January 9, 2013 advisory which said that no arrest should be made without approval of senior police officers.
The controversy on the arrest reached the apex court after Shreya Singhal, who had challenged the constitutional validity of Section 66A, filed an application bringing to the Court’s notice the arrest of the student.
The youth, a student of a reputed public school in Bareilly, was arrested on March 16 and was sent to the district jail for uploading a post against Azam Khan. He was granted bail on two sureties of Rs 20,000 each on March 19.
He has been booked under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc.), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 505 (public mischief) of the IPC.