Kerala govt brings ordinance punishing 'offensive' talk with jail, Chidambaram 'shocked'

On Saturday, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan signed the Kerala Police Act Amendment ordinance that incorporates a new Section 118 (A), according to which any person who sends any information that is offensive or is intended to offend or threaten another person, through any means of communication, is liable to face imprisonment of five years or a fine of Rs 10,000 or both. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government argues that it is intended to reduce cyber crimes against women. 

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Congress questions LDF government

Reacting to the ordinance, Congress senior leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram expressed his shock and asked if CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury will defend the "atrocious decision". He also said that he is shocked to see the attempts made by the LDF government to "implicate" Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala, in a case where the investigation agency had filed a closure report "four times".

Even as Chennithala had opposed the cabinet decision, the state unit of Congress has not reacted to the move after it was promulgated by the Governor. Moreover, BJP has also maintained a silence in the state as well as Centre on the issue. Incidentally, the CPI-M manifesto for 2019 Lok Sabha polls pledged to repeal Section 499 of the IPC related to defamation, however, now the government led by the same party has brought an ordinance that gives the power to state police to decide on defamation. 

READ | Kerala Cabinet proposes to modify Police Act to act on cybercrimes against women 

Legal challenge to the ordinance

It is to be noted that the Supreme Court had struck down section 66-A of the IT Act and Section 118(D) of the Kerala Police Act as unconstitutional and had stated that it was against freedom of expression. The new amendment is similar to the above two sections. However, the LDF government of Kerala claims that the Centre has not introduced any other legal framework in place of the act and in such a scenario, the police are "unable to deal effectively with crimes committed through social media". Reportedly, Kerala-based advocate Anoop Kumaran, who had moved the Supreme Court in 2015 against another Section, 118(D) of the Act, has said that he will challenge the ordinance in the High Court.

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