Indians hail SC decision to axe Section 66A

From policy makers to the common man, everyone welcomed the Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday to strike down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act.

Author Chetan Bhagat tweeted: "Glad to know that I live in a free country. No section 66A as SC strikes it down. Super Happy. Go on, troll away."

Actor Kamal Hasan told reporters: "You can't arrest the public opinion, freedom of expression should not be contained."

Singer Subbalakshmi Jayaram tweeted: "From restricted freedom in social media to full freedom in social media Sec 66A scrapped."

Many Twitter users were upbeat after the apex court said the section was vague.

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor posted: "Glad the SC has struck down Sec 66A of the IT Act, which was liable to misuse; freedom must not be curbed."

Supreme Court lawyer Manali Singhal said: "Now people are not going to be scared to exchange and put their views on internet freely."

"We're very happy, consequences are going to be very positive," she added.

Petitioner in the case against Section 66A, Shreya Singhal said: "No one should fear putting something up due to a fear of jail."

There were a few sceptics, however, who felt that the government might bounce back.

"Beware tho that the establishment will strike back soon," posted Sonali Ranade, a trader.

"Sec66A is gone but not the governments power to arrest. If that was so, this government must have been a step ahead and repealed it soon after assuming office," Raghav Chopra tweeted.

"Mixed feelings about this #Sec66(sic). But its definitely better news than all the banning banter," posted Siddhi Pathak.