ALLAHABAD HC REFUSES TO QUASH UNCONSTITUTIONAL FIR REGISTERED BY UP POLICE UNDER SECTION 66A IT ACT

A petitioner approached the Allahabad High Court seeking to quash an FIR registered against him under Sections 3/7 Essential Commodities Act, and Section 66A Information Technology Act (IT Act), stating that the Supreme Court had struck down Section 66A of the IT Act in its entirety in 2015. However, the Court refused to quash the FIR and directed that the petitioner shall not be arrested until submission of the police report before the competent court.

In a more recent case, a Journalist Shiv Kumar (Amar Ujala), approached the High Court seeking to quash the FIR registered against him under section 188 and 505 of Indian Penal Code read with section 3 of Epidemic Act and Section 66A of IT Act. Disposing of his petition, the Court found that ‘it is apparent that cognizable offence is there for which investigation is in process, hence no ground for indulgence is made out.’