Taking to Facebook to troll and criticise a High Court judge has landed a 40-year-old housewife from Vellore in jail.
Maha Laxmi, a 40-year-old homemaker active on Facebook, was arrested and remanded in Vellore Central prison for criticising a judge of the Madras High Court for his remarks against the Tamil Nadu government school teachers' strikes in September. 25 other people have been apprehended for the same,reported The Indian Express.
Government school teachers in Tamil Nadu had boycotted classes as part of their protest in September this year, demanding implementation of the seventh pay commission recommendations.
Justice N Kirubakaran had then stated that strikes by teachers were the reason why government school students scored low in NEET exams.
"Only five government school students from the state have managed to secure medical seats. Protesting teachers should feel ashamed of this fact. They should know their responsibility. Such persons cannot involve in strikes," Justice Kirubakaran had said of the protest.
Outrage on social media followed by his remarks led him to call a report on the offensive materials circulating against him,.
According to the report, Maha Laxmi was arrested for criticising the judge by name and posting the same on social media.
“Her post referred to the judge’s name and personal details, and alleged personal motives for his anger against teachers. She was traced among many, including some 25 teachers and government staff, who are awaiting action from their respective departments before arrests,” the report quoted a senior police officer as saying.
In a separate incident, a 34-year-old man was detained for allegedly posting abusive comments against NCP chief Sharad Pawar and his MP daughter Supriya Sule. Police Tuesday detained Walchand Geete, a resident of Surendra Nagar in Dhantoli area of the city, for allegedly posting objectionable and abusive comments against Pawars by tagging their twitter accounts.
In May this year, a Karnataka Whatsapp group admin was arrested for sharing PM Modi's picture with 'obscene' content in a private chat.
In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down a controversial law, Section 66A of IT Act, allowing police to arrest people for comments on social networks and other internet sites.
Though the government defended the law, Justice RF Nariman ordered that "Section 66A is unconstitutional and we have no hesitation in striking it down,".
