On Friday, the senior officers of the Maharashtra Police sought an explanation from the investigating officers for applying section 66A of the Information Technology Act against Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale.
Chitale was arrested on May 14 for sharing an allegedly derogatory post on Facebook against NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. She was charged under section 66A of the IT Act and also under the sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the reports, the Maharashtra Police senior officers have questioned the investigating officers over-application of section 66A of the IT Act that has already been scrapped by the Supreme Court. “We have sought a report from the officers investigating the case to find out why they applied section 66A. There have been repeated reminders sent to the officers asking them not to use it”, the senior officers were quoted.
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) June 18, 2022
This is a couple of days after the National Commission of Women (NCW) raised the issue and questioned the Maharashtra DGP over invoking section 66A of the IT Act. The Commission also stated that no arrest warrant was issued to Chitale which is necessary for the non-cognizable offense. It directed that the police should not act based on political vendetta but should rather proceed in an unbiased manner in every matter.
Don’t act on basis of ‘political vendetta’: NCW to police on Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale’s arrest https://t.co/ryHCGLjMy3
— NCW (@NCWIndia) June 18, 2022
Appearing on behalf of the Maharashtra DGP before the Commission, Milind Bharambe, Special IG (law and order) noted that the application of 66A was applied out of oversight and that it would be taken off. However, he stated that even if that one section is taken off, the other sections still would remain valid.
The NCW on June 16 meanwhile had also sought an explanation from the Maharashtra Police regarding the arrest of Chitale without prior investigation. “As per Section 41 A of CrPC, the police is supposed to give notice to the accused before arrest and prior permission is to be taken from the magistrate in non-cognizable cases. However, the police failed to comply with this mandatory provision of law”, the Commission was quoted.
Scrapping of Section 66A of the IT Act
The Supreme Court in the year 2015 scrapped section 66A of the Information Technology Act in the Shreya Singhal case after it was challenged through a PIL on the grounds that it was being misused. The court struck down the provision and called it unconstitutional and a violation of free speech.
Section 66A of the IT Act empowered the police to arrest persons over what policemen could subjectively construe as offensive. The Court observed that the weakness of Section 66A lay in the fact that it had created an offense based on undefined actions, such as causing inconvenience, danger, obstruction, and insult, which do not fall among the exceptions granted under Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees the freedom of speech.
The court had also observed that the challenge was to identify where to draw the line. Traditionally, it has been drawn at incitement while terms like obstruction and insult remain subjective, it had added. Later in the year 2021, the center had also written to all the states barring them from registering cases under the repealed provision. The Centre had also ordered to withdraw any such case that may have been filed under the section.
Reportedly, the Thane court on June 16 granted bail to the Marathi actress Ketaki Chitale in a case registered against her under the SC/ST Act. Though Chitale has been granted bail, she continues to stay in jail as there are more than 22 FIRs registered against her in connection with her alleged Facebook post.
