The NDA government, which had defended the constitutional validity of Section 66(A) of IT Act, today said there can be no parallel between its stand and that of the previous UPA regime which tried to make it "an instrument to curb dissent, satire and anything else which did not suit it".
Reacting to the Supreme Court judgement striking down Section 66(A) of the Information Technology Act, Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said if the security establishment feels there is need to consider certain aspects in the light of the order, these shall be considered in a proper structured way with due safeguards so that the constitutional rights are not frustrated.
"There can be no parallel of our stand on this matter with that of the previous UPA regime. We have in writing confirmed that we stand for freedom of speech and expression, while the previous UPA government tried to make this law an instrument to curb dissent, satire and anything else which did not suit it," he told reporters.
The Minister said the government welcomes SC decision and when the UPA government came out with "draconian" provisions under 66(A), the BJP had opposed it and said that "66 is unacceptable in current form".
