Govt. welcomes SC judgment on Section 66A: RS Prasad (Update)

Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday said that the Government of India welcomes the Supreme Court's judgement on striking down the Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

"The Government of India welcomes the Supreme Court's judgment on Section 66A of IT Act. The government made it clear that we support only that interpretation of Section 66A which is consistent with the mandate of Section 19(1) and subject to reasonable restriction on Section 19(2)," Prasad told the media.

"If security establishments need a structured response with proper safeguards in case of terrorism, extremist violence, promotion of communal violence through software technology, the government will take view after widest consultations," he added.

Earlier, the minister had said that the Central government respects freedom of speech and expression and was not in favour of curtailing communication, including criticism, on social media.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act, terming it 'unconstitutional'.

According to reports, the apex court ruled that the section falls outside Article 19(2), which relates to Freedom of Speech, and thus has to be struck down in its entirety.