Ground Report

Many have rejoiced the recent judgment of Supreme Court of India titled Shreya Singhal v. Union Of India (24^th March 2015), Writ Petition (Criminal) No.167 Of 2012 (PDF). However, on a closer look it is clear that while solving the minor problem the Supreme Court of India has created a major problem for Indian citizens and its cyberspace.

Few tweets by Praveen Dalal are worth reading in this regard. He believes that striking down of Section 66A of IT Act 2000 means that Indian Cyber Law needs urgent Amendments as we are exploring Digital India as well.

To achieve the objectives of Digital India, we need a robust cyber security infrastructure. The starting point can be the formulation of cyber security policy of India 2015. Cyber security breach disclosure norms of India must also be formulated by Indian government for successful implementation of Digital India.

He also believes that reading down of Section 79(3) (b) by Supreme Court in the present manner is “Counter Productive” in long run. He also cautions that SC’s Judgment on Section 66A is a “Big Blow” for Cyber Law Due Diligence in India (PDF) and “reading down portions” must be challenged through a Review Petition.

Perry4Law Firm would come up with more detailed interpretation of this judgment in due course of time, if required. For the time being it is clear that not everything is right with the judgment of Supreme Court and Indian Cyber Law may witness many ups and downs after this judgment.

Source: CCICI.