CASE BRIEF

CASE NAME AND CASE LAW:

Shreya Singhal v Union Of India(2012-2015) WRIT
PETITION (CRIMINAL) NO.167 OF 2012

FACTS:

Police arrested two women for posting allegedly offensive

and objectionable comments on Facebook about the
propriety of shutting down the city of Mumbai after the
death of a political leader. The police made the arrests
under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act of
2000 (ITA).
ISSUE:
Whether the arrest of the girls is violation of article
19(1) of the Constitution Of India.
JUDGEMENT:

The Supreme Court distinguished between “advocacy”

and “incitement”, stating that only the latter is punishable
by law. a person could not be tried for sedition unless their
speech, however “unpopular,” offensive or inappropriate,
had an established connection with any provocation to
violence or disruption in public order. Based on the
forgoing reasons, the Court invalidated Section 66A of ITA
in its entirety as it violated the right to freedom of
expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the
Constitution of India.