17
Thus, the offence in question relates to electronic record.
19.
In Shreya Singhal v. Union of India5, the Court was
dealing with constitutional validity of Section 66-A of the IT
Act and the two-Judge Bench declared the said provision as
unconstitutional by stating thus:“85. These two cases illustrate how judicially
trained minds would find a person guilty or not
guilty depending upon the Judge’s notion of what is
“grossly offensive” or “menacing”. In Collins case,
both the Leicestershire Justices and two Judges of
the Queen’s Bench would have acquitted Collins
whereas the House of Lords convicted him.
Similarly, in the Chambers case, the Crown Court
would have convicted Chambers whereas the
Queen’s Bench acquitted him. If judicially trained
minds can come to diametrically opposite
conclusions on the same set of facts it is obvious
that expressions such as “grossly offensive” or
“menacing” are so vague that there is no
manageable standard by which a person can be said
to have committed an offence or not to have
committed an offence. Quite obviously, a
prospective offender of Section 66-A and the
authorities who are to enforce Section 66-A have
absolutely no manageable standard by which to
book a person for an offence under Section 66-A.
This being the case, having regard also to the two
English precedents cited by the learned Additional
Solicitor General, it is clear that Section 66-A is
unconstitutionally vague.
5 (2015) 5 SCC 1
Page 17