Mumbai: The state government on Friday constituted a committee under Director General of Police (DGP) Sadanand Date to examine legal provisions for curbing defamation on social media platforms. The committee’s primary task will be to explore new legislation or provisions to replace Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, which was struck down by the Supreme Court (SC).
The SC had declared Section 66A unconstitutional, holding that it violated the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. The court described the provision as vague, draconian and chilling to free speech.
The state government has assigned the committee a five-point agenda. Notably, most of the terms of reference focus on identifying alternatives to the annulled provision of the IT Act. The committee comprises the principal secretaries of the Law and Judiciary, Information Technology, and Women and Child Development departments. The Additional Director General of Police (State Cyber) will serve as member-secretary.
In light of the scrapping of Section 66A, the committee will suggest amendments or new provisions to the Act. It will also study the directives issued by the SC in Shreya Singhal vs Union of India (2015) and People’s Union for Civil Liberties vs Union of India (2022).
Further, the panel will examine the technical and legal aspects of introducing new legislation or state-level amendments to the IT Act. It will also recommend measures to curb the misuse of social media and assess the effectiveness of existing legal provisions.
The committee has been given a three-month timeframe and has the authority to invite experts as required.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had announced the formation of the committee on the floor of the State Assembly in March this year. Responding to an issue raised by BJP MLA Rahul Kul, the CM had said there was a growing trend of people using social media platforms to defame others without evidence or proof.
This is the second committee headed by the DGP to recommend new legislation or amendments, following the DGP-led panel that proposed an anti-conversion law.
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