Nand Lal Singh Yadav v. State of U.P.
In the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad
Crl. Misc. WP 6684/2020
Before Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Anil Kumar
Decided on September 8, 2020

Relevancy of the case: Quashing of FIR registered under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Statutes and Provisions Involved

• The Information Technology Act, 2000 (Section 66A)

Relevant Facts of the Case

• The present petition is to quash the FIR dated 19.04.2020 under Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
• Section 66A of IT Act, 2000 had been declared ultra vires by the Apex Court in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India in 2015.
• However, FIRs were still being registered in the State under this provision.

Opinion of the Bench

• It is extremely surprising that a provision declared ultra vires by the Apex Court is still being used to register FIRs. This is an extreme disregard for the orders of the Supreme Court. The investigating officer has been asked to be present with the records and his explanation.

Final Decision

• Petition allowed.
• FIR quashed.

Personal Opinion

• It is an extreme misuse of the legal system to use laws that are declared ultra vires by the Apex Court five years ago to register FIRs, even though the orders have been made available to all the district and high courts across the country.

This case summary has been prepared by Neelangini Tiwari, an undergraduate student at Kirori Mal College, DU, during her internship with The Cyber Blog India in January/February 2021.