(c) any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and with fine.”



Section 66A of the IT (Amendment) Act, 2008,which states the punishments for sending offensive messages, is “draconian” for sure, as many people like to call it. More importantly, it is in violation of Article 19(a) of our Constitution. The simple fact that some information is “grossly offensive” or that it causes “annoyance” or “inconvenience” while being known to be false cannot be reason for curbing freedom of speech. Unless it is related to decency or morality, public order or defamation (Art. 19(2)).