Leader of Opposition in West Bengal and CPI-M state secretary Surjyakanta Mishra on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court judgement striking down Section 66A of the Information Technology Act and demanded the state government to withdraw all cases it had filed against people under the section.
"We welcome this judgement. The state government must honour this judgement and withdraw the cases it had filed against the people under the section," Mishra told media persons on the sidelines of a programme here.
The apex court on Tuesday quashed Section 66A of the Act after finding it violative of the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Bengal government had slapped cases against a number of people, the most famous of which was the arrest of a professor of Jadavpur University, Ambikesh Mahapatra, under this section in 2012 for emails mocking Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
