INDIA’S Supreme Court struck down a law yesterday that gave authorities powers to jail people for online posts.

Section 66A of the Information and Technology (IT) Act had been challenged in the country’s senior court by law students, bloggers, writers and civil liberties groups following arrests across the country for statements posted on social media sites.

The law had made sending messages that caused “annoyance or inconvenience” a crime punishable by up to three years in prison.

Justices Jasti Chelameshwar and Rohinton Nariman said in their order that “the law hit at the root of liberty and freedom of expression.

“Our constitution provides for liberty of thought, expression and belief.

“In a democracy, these values have to be provided within constitutional scheme.

“This law is vague in its entirety,” they declared.

The petitioners had argued that the “draconian law,” which was introduced in 2008 by the last government, had been misused by politicians to hound critics.

The verdict was immediately hailed by internet users as a victory for free speech, although Facebook, Twitter and Google did not immediately comment.

Law student Shreya Singhal, who filed the challenge in 2012, applauded the court’s rejection of a provision which she blasted as “grossly offensive to our rights, our freedom of speech and expression.

“Today the Supreme Court has upheld that, they have supported our rights,” Ms Singhal continued. “I am ecstatic.”

The Internet and Mobile Association of India said the ruling protected consumers and businesses.

“This judgment will herald a new phase in the growth and evolution of the internet in India,” the group said, also praising a separate part of the judgement that made it harder to force websites to take down content.

Both local and foreign internet companies have in the past faced pressure for hosting content deemed offensive in India.

Police arrested a man last year for claming on Facebook that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then still a candidate, would start a holocaust if elected. Last week police in Uttar Pradesh arrested a 16-year-old at his school for allegedly posting an insulting remark about the Samajwadi Party’s Azam Khan.

by Our Foreign Desk