Costs Imposed On Police Officers After They Filed FIRs Under Section 66A Of The IT Act

The Karnataka High Court recently fined two police officers with Rs. 10, 000 each for registering a First Information Report (FIR) under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act. The draconian section was struck down by the Supreme Court in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India.

The single judge bench of Justice P. S. Dinesh Kumar passed the order of fine on Assistant Sub Inspector M. Somanna and Police Inspector, Ravi Patil. The costs are to be paid to the Registrar General of the High Court within four weeks.

The sufferer, Mr. Sharada D. R. had approached the court for getting the FIR and the proceedings quashed at the Srirampura police station. The grieving party said that the FIR was registered under a section which doesn’t even exist anymore.

Both the Police Officers had to file personal affidavits apologising for the error they committed. The court noted that the officers-initiated proceedings under a section which doesn’t even exist anymore. They had initially recorded the complaint as NCR and then registered the FIR after one week. The court called it a clear abuse of process of law and harassment of the citizen.

Last year, the bench comprising of Justice Rohinton Nariman and Justice Vineet Saran had issued a notice on a PIL which brought the attention of the court on the fact that Section 66A was being used by the police to harass people even after it was struck down in a landmark judgment. The Judges had asserted that the officials will be arrested if the Supreme Court judgment scrapping the section was violated and more FIRs were filed under the same.

The Supreme Court order and the Karnataka High Court order, both are to be appreciated because the section violated freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India. Further, it did not fall under reasonable restrictions under Article 19 (2). With the police officers so unaware about the judgement even when such a long time has elapsed is a cause of concern for everyone.

Submitted by –

Amrashaa Singh

Student reporter, INBA.