[Last week, a young man in
the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh became one of the latest people to
be arrested under the law when the police said he incorrectly attributed a
polarizing statement to the lawmaker Azam Khan on Facebook.]
By Nida Najar and Suhasini
Raj
 |
|
A man with his smartphone
in New Delhi. The Indian Supreme Court's judgment
was regarded as a
landmark ruling on free speech in the country.
Credit Altaf
Qadri/Associated Press
|
NEW DELHI — The Indian Supreme Court
on Tuesday struck down a section of a law that allowed the authorities to jail
people for offensive online posts, in a judgment that was regarded as a
landmark ruling on free speech in India.
The law stipulated that a
person could be jailed for up to three years for any communication online that
was, among other things, “grossly offensive,” “menacing” or “false,” and for
the purpose of causing “annoyance,” “inconvenience” or “injury.” The provisions,
which led to highly publicized arrests in recent years, had been roundly
criticized by legal experts who called them vague and argued that they had been
used in some cases to stifle dissent.
Calling the wording so
vague that “virtually any opinion on any subject would be covered by it,” the
court said “if it is to withstand the test of constitutionality, the chilling
effect on free speech would be total.”
Sunil Abraham, the
executive director of the Center for Internet & Society, which is based in
Bangalore, called the decision “amazing.”
“It is in continuation of a great tradition in
India: that of apex courts consistently, over the years, protecting the
citizens of India from violations of human rights,” he said.
India is considered by
some to be one of the world’s most freewheeling democracies, but the law
reflected the ambivalence with which Indian officials have sometimes treated
freedom of expression, occasionally citing the Constitution’s allowance of
“reasonable restrictions” on free speech in order to ban books, movies and
other material about subjects like sex, politics and religion.
The government recently blocked the screening in
India of the BBC documentary “India’s Daughter,” about the Delhi gang rape in
2012 that made international news.
The law, the Information
Technology (Amendment) Act, was passed by Parliament shortly after the
three-day terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008. It granted the authorities more
expansive powers to monitor electronic communications for reasons of national security.
That section was not a part of the court case.
In the past, critics have
been particularly worried that the section of the law that was struck down was
ripe for misuse at the hands of police officials often beholden to political
parties.
Last week, a young man in
the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh became one of the latest people to
be arrested under the law when the police said he incorrectly attributed a
polarizing statement to the lawmaker Azam Khan on Facebook.
Other highly publicized
cases include the arrest in 2012 of a professor accused of sharing cartoons
mocking the chief minister of West Bengal State on Facebook and the arrest of
two young women after one shared a Facebook post criticizing the virtual
shutdown of Mumbai after the death of a revered right-wing political leader
there. The professor is still contesting his case in court, while the case
against the two young women was dropped in 2013, according to the Press Trust
of India.
In a separate part of the
Supreme Court judgment, the justices made it harder to force websites to take
down content, though a legal expert said it remained to be seen how much of an
impediment the ruling would be to blocking content.
Hari Kumar contributed
reporting.
@ The New York Times
THOUSANDS PROTEST WOMAN'S MOB KILLING IN AFGHANISTAN CAPITAL
[Kabul flooded by
thousands of protesters demanding justice over mob killing of innocent woman]
*
THOUSANDS PROTEST WOMAN'S MOB KILLING IN AFGHANISTAN CAPITAL
[Kabul flooded by
thousands of protesters demanding justice over mob killing of innocent woman]
 |
|
Afghan
protesters hold banners as they shout slogans during a rally
in
front of The Supreme Court in Kabul (AFP/Getty)
|
Thousands
marched through the Afghan capital on Tuesday, demanding justice
for a woman who was beaten to death by a mob after being falsely accused of
burning a Koran.
Men and women of all ages
carried banners bearing the bloodied face of Farkhunda, a 27-year-old religious
scholar killed last week by the mob.
Farkhunda, who went by one name
like many Afghans, was beaten, run over with a car and burned before her body
was thrown into the Kabul River.
Organisers of Tuesday's march
estimated 3,000 people took part, calling it one of the biggest demonstrations
in Kabul's history.
Marchers chanted "Justice
for Farkhunda!" and "Death to the killers!"
Police say 18 people have been
arrested and 13 police officers have been suspended, though many suspect that
figure will rise as the investigation continues.
The demonstrators also called for action against officials and religious
leaders who had initially supported the attack on Farkhunda by saying her
killing was justifiable if she had burned pages of a Koran.
The country's Interior Ministry
said the spokesman for the Kabul police, Hashmat Stanikzai, had been fired over
comments he made on social media supporting Farkhunda's killers. Stanikzai
could not be immediately reached for comment.
Among the crowd were prominent
rights activists, including Fatana Gailani, the head of the Afghanistan Women's
Council, who said she hoped the incident would be a catalyst for change in a
society traumatised by war, corruption and lack of leadership.
"We are getting fed
up," Gailani said. "The new generation has known nothing but war,
they are not educated, and now they have no jobs."
