Case Note on Shreya Singhal v Union of India

The case of Shreya Singhal v Union of India is a landmark decision in Indian

Constitutional Law for the Indian Supreme Court held that Section 66A of Information
Technology Act, 2000 was unconstitutional due to its tendency for arbitrary restriction on
freedom of speech & expression.

The facts of the case arises out of widespread misuse of Section 66A in many incidents
including the popular case about imprisoning of two girls in Mumbai for their critical on
deceased politician, Mr. Bal Thackeray. This lead to various writ petitions demanding
striking down of provisions on grounds of Article 14 & 19(1) (a) of Indian Constitution.

The Supreme Court observed the legal aspects of Section 66A, 69A & 79 of IT Act and
observed that the wordings of section 66A were vague & subjective in nature & lacks clarity
on grounds like defamation, public order, etc for protection under Article 19(2). Further, the
Apex Court opined that Section 66A creates a chilling effect on free speech and is
unconstitutional vague in nature. However, the Apex Court upheld Section 69A & 79
which empowers the state to block internet sites on grounds of having procedural safeguards
which was absent in case of Section 66A and rejected petitioners contentions on Article 14
of Indian Constitution.

The importance of the case can be summarized by the fact that it influenced the Supreme
Court on other constitutional law cases such as Devidas Ramachandra Tuljapurkar v State of
Maharashtra and emphasized the need for comprehensive regulation of free speech on
internet without creating any chilling effect which was noted in March 2017 Law
Commission report on Hate Speech.