An IT professional has been arrested for writing obscene comments about Sonia Gandhi on an orkut community “I hate Sonia Gandhi”. Many in the blogosphere seem to think that this is an attack on free speech and Google was in the wrong for supplying the data to the government. (See the comments)
The accused has been arrested under section 292 of Indian Penal Code and section 67 of the Information Technology Act. I am no lawyer. However even a cursory glance at the sections makes it clear that the case is of spreading obscenity and not about writing something against Sonia Gandhi. Here is the text of the 2 sections
The Indian Penal Code vide section 292 defines the term obscene and provides for punishment for distributing any such object.
Section 67 of the I.T. Act is the most serious legislative measure against pornography. This section reads as follows “Whosoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to be published in the electronic form, any material which is lascivious or appeals to the prurient interest or it its effect is such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to all relevant circumstances to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it, shall be punished on first conviction with an imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees and in the event of a second or subsequent conviction with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years and also with fine which may extend to two lakh rupees.”
Hence it seems the law does not have a problem with what he said but rather the language that he used to express himself. That clearly is not an attack on free speech.
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