
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea seeking to restrain government authorities from taking any coercive action against anyone for posting alleged objectionable comments on social networking sites. An application was filed before the apex court seeking its direction to the authorities not to take action for posting such comments during the pendency of a case before it pertaining to constitutional validity of section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
The section states that any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or communication device, any information that was grossly offensive or has a menacing character could be punished with imprisonment for a maximum term of three years, besides imposition of appropriate fine. A bench of justices BS Chauhan and Dipak Misra will also hear the plea for release of Hyderabad-based woman activist who was arrested and sent to jail over her Facebook post in which certain "objectionable" comments were made against Tamil Nadu Governor K Rosaiah and Congress MLA Amanchi Krishna Mohan.
Jaya Vindhayal, the state general secretary of People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), was remanded on May 13 in judicial custody for 12 days following her arrest the previous day under section 66A of the IT Act for the "objectionable" post. According to the police, she had also allegedly distributed pamphlets making objectionable allegations against Rosaiah and Mohan before posting the comments online.
The matter was mentioned before the bench by law student Shreya Singhal,

01:01 PM, May 15, 2013

Over the years film censorship in Hindi cinema has undergone many changes. As Bollywood celebrates 100 years of its inception, lets find out what is still taboo in films. ...

07:00 PM, May 02, 2013

In Parliament Home Minister Sushil Shinde shocked everyone with his defence, saying 'rapes take place not just in Delhi, but across the country'. What does the increasing number of rapes reveal about our society? Former chairperson of National Commission for Women Dr Mohini Giri joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on the issue. Q. Why is it that a Justice Verma committee was required to suggest changes when a certain...

06:15 PM, Apr 23, 2013

New Delhi: To give a perspective on evolution of censorship in the country, a unique film festival will be held featuring movies and scenes that had once created sensation and were clipped by the censor board. The 'Cut Uncut film festival', being organised by Information and Broadcasting ministry, will screen films, most of which had been rated adult by the censor board, officials said. The three-day event, a part of...

04:11 PM, Apr 10, 2013

An online fan club devoted to Peng Liyuan, the glamorous wife of new Chinese President Xi Jinping, was suddenly shut down by authorities, media reports said. ...

04:23 PM, Mar 29, 2013

Reacting to the Censor Board's stance that item numbers in films will be examined on a case-to-case basis, actress Kareena Kapoor has said this will not stop her from doing such songs. ...

02:25 PM, Mar 12, 2013

The Censor Board's clarification comes in the wake of raging debate about 'obscenity' in item numbers. ...

01:20 PM, Mar 10, 2013

The court order had asked Director General of Indian Computer Emergency Response Team to block 78 web pages including that of University Grant Commission (UGC). ...

06:51 AM, Feb 28, 2013

A Bengali film has courted controversy after its director alleged political discrimination by the government. The Censor Board in Kolkata denied approval to 'Kangal Malsat', a film by Suman Mukhopadhyay. ...

11:59 PM, Feb 26, 2013

In increasing trouble for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Trinamool Congress MP Kabir Suman has criticised the move by the censor board in Kolkata to deny approval to Kangal Malsat, a film that contains references to Singur issue and Banerjee's swearing in. ...

05:25 PM, Feb 25, 2013

A Bengali film has courted controversy after its director alleged political discrimination by the government. The Censor Board in Kolkata denied approval to 'Kangal Malsat', a film by Suman Mukhopadhyay. ...

07:36 AM, Feb 25, 2013

The list of URLs to be blocked also includes news reports from Firstpost, Outlook, Times of India, Rediff, Indian Express and Economic Times. ...

10:06 PM, Feb 15, 2013

The central government will form a committee to re-look into the Cinematographic Act. ...

06:24 PM, Jan 31, 2013

Against the backdrop of controversy surrounding Kamal Haasan's film 'Vishwaroopam', Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on January 31 said there was a need to "revisit" the Cinematograph Act to ensure decisions of the Censor Board are implemented. ...

12:48 PM, Jan 31, 2013

Censor board chairperson Leela Samson welcomed the government's step of considering amendments to the Cinematograph Act. Leela Samson said, "If the government comes up with this, it is the best news I have heard in a long time. We have been defending ourselves in Chennai against what the attorney said in court defending the state government. I am delighted by Manish Tewari's announcement." ...

10:16 AM, Jan 31, 2013

Just a day after Kamal Haasan's 'Vishwaroopam' got the green signal from the Madras High Court to screen the film, the decision was overturned on Wednesday. Tamil Nadu Advocate General A Navaneetha Krishnan said the interim order was against public interest and that the censor board itself was flouting norms when clearing films. ...

07:46 AM, Jan 31, 2013

What does the 'Vishwaroopam' controversy tell us about the censor board? About the Jayalalithaa government? And the attitude of the Indian system to freedom of expression? ...

10:00 PM, Jan 30, 2013

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Wednesday said states should implement the decisions of the censor board regarding screening of films but refrained from commenting on Kamal Haasan's controversial movie 'Vishwaroopam' saying the matter was in court. "Since the High court has once again taken the matter within its purview, it would be inappropriate to comment on it. We would allow the High court to take cognisance of the...

07:58 PM, Jan 30, 2013

Bejoy Nambiar's 'David' has been cleared by the Censor Board Of Film Certification(CBFC) with two minor cuts. ...

04:29 PM, Jan 29, 2013

Hindu's film critic Sudhish Kamath joined IBNLive readers for an interaction on what the Vishwaroopam controversy is about. ...

05:09 PM, Jan 28, 2013