SC CALLS FOR NEW LAW TO REGULATE SOCIAL MEDIA :
TIMES OF INDIA
What went up
has come down or one may add the pendulum has swung into other direction;
hardly five months passed since the netizens rejoiced and celebrated the
brilliance exhibited by Justice R.F. Nariman in striking down Sec 66A of the
Information Technology Act. I was however skeptical and warned in my blog that
still it was possible to harass a common man for what he would express in
social media, if the state machinery was so determined.
I put down my
fears that it was not the law but the criminal procedure, particularly the
powers available with the state to arrest and incarcerate any person even
before securing a conviction; those hailing the Judgment and the legal brains
discussing the niceties of the law involved, I thought were totally alienated from
the ground situation.
I did not
feel happy when I was proved right in my apprehension by our police two days
back; they could arrest and send a young laboratory owner to jail who without
knowing what was to come posted a gossip on the health condition of Chief
Minister, in his WhatsApp account.
The Supreme
Court yesterday, feeling the heat from what spread through the social media on
the conduct of Senior Lawyers and Judges turned to the government for rescue;
but how? Alas, pleading the Parliament to bring a new law to curb social media!
I restate, it
is not the substantive law but the procedure which requires attention, if we
really want to curb this menace. We have had enough of laws to meet this
situation and a new legislation is the last thing we need to think of. The
legal pundits who discuss and think over this are oblivious of a painful
reality that our budgetary constraints would keep our infrastructure awfully
short of what is actually required to meet the demands of a county of one
billion; either it is the law enforcing authority or the justice delivery
system.
It takes more
than a decade to prosecute and punish a corrupt or even a terrorist, whose
crimes are to be given utmost priority. New legislation means giving birth to
new crimes or rechristening existing crimes, which consequently bring
additional pressure upon the system, which already is bursting in its seams;
about judiciary less said the better, it looks as if we are witnessing a star
collapsing on its own weight.
That brings
into focus, the evil of quick justice; arrest, remand and be satisfied that the
accused is harassed enough with the incarceration and running forever through
the maze of judicial complexities; the problem is the possibility of dragging
innocents into this mess without any accountability as this process does not
require the adherence to the natural justice principle of audi alteram partem.
Chilling
effect is already there, irrespective of the striking down of Section 66A and any new legislation may help in freezing the ideas of a free mind with more
severity.
Legally
speaking, what best that could be done at present is to carry forward the
directions of the Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar (2014) 3 MLJ (Crl) (SC) and to
hone it to perfection by experience. It is unfortunate the directions remain a
dead letter and no Court is taking serious note of such blatant contempt of the
Supreme Court.
If we leave aside law, I would like to conclude that it is time we must
realise that we are living in digital age which has changed the rules of life;
earlier gossips spread by words of mouth with little reach and lesser shelf
value but social media has made it possible with a click of mouse it to reach
every corner of the world and worse with permanency; no law or court can curb
slander anymore as social media has no physical borders and with an additional
insulation of anonymity. We need to realize this and learn to accept slander in
our stride and to ignore; most politicians have evolved, judges are following
and lawyers have no option.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social/SC-calls-for-new-law-to-regulate-social-media/articleshow/48384370.cms
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