She has submitted that “unless there is judicial sanction as a prerequisite to the setting into motion the criminal law with respect to freedom of speech and expression, the law as it stands is highly susceptible to abuse and for muzzling free speech in the country.”
The arrests which have been referred to by Shreya in her petition include that of a 21-year-old girl Shaheen Dhada for questioning on Facebook the shutdown in Mumbai after Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray's death, which was ‘liked' and shared by her friend, Rinu Srinivasan, who was also arrested.
Shreya has also referred to an April 2012 incident, when a professor of chemistry from Jadavpur University in West Bengal, Ambikesh Mahapatra, was arrested for posting a cartoon concerning a political figure(Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee) on social networking sites.
She has also referred to the arrest of businessman Ravi Srinivasan in October 2012 by the Puducherry Police for having made an allegation on Twitter against a politician from Tamil Nadu as well as the May 2012 arrests of two Air India employees, V Jaganatharao and Mayank Sharma, by the Mumbai Police under the IT Act for posting content of Facebook and Orkut against a trade union leader and some politicians.
Latest India News
