Shreya Singhal is an Indian born lawyer. Her fight against Section 66A of the Information Technology Act of 2000 in 2015 brought her to national prominence in India.

Early life and education

She was born into a family of eminent lawyers. Her Great-grandfather,

H. R. Gokhale H. R. Gokhale (5 October 1915 – 15 February 1978) was an Indian politician who was a member of the Indian National Congress from Maharashtra and of the Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower ...

, was veteran

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

leader and former

Law Minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...

. Her Grandmother, Justice Sunanda Bhandare, was a judge of the Delhi High Court and a distinguished lawyer. Her Grandfather, Shri M.C. Bhandare, is a Senior Advocate, former

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and former

Governor of Odisha The governor of Odisha is the head of state and representative of the president of India in the Indian state of Odisha. The governors have similar powers and functions at the state level as those of the President of India at centr ...

. Her mother, Manali Bhandare, is a lawyer practicing at the

Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India ( IAST: ) is the supreme judicial authority of India and is the highest court of the Republic of India under the constitution. It is the most senior constitutional court, has the final decision in all legal matters ...

. She completed her schooling from the Vasant Valley School in New Delhi in 2009, after which she went to pursue Astrophysics at the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in the United Kingdom. She subsequently enrolled at the Campus Law Centre, Faculty of Law at

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

, where she graduated in 2016.

Section 66A and Restriction of Free Speech

Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000 provided for punishment for sending offensive messages through communication service, etc. Any person who sends, by means of a computer resource or a communication device - (a) any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or (b) any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred or ill will, persistently by making use of such computer resource or a communication device; or (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. Before 2015,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

restricted freedom of speech for avoiding self-harm and misuse. This allowed arrest of any person which the law per see as harmful or misuse. In 2012, Shreya filed a

Public Interest Litigation The chief instrument through which judicial activism has flourished in India is public interest litigation (PIL) or social action litigation (SAL). ''Public interest litigation'' (PIL) refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and de ...

in the

against the Act. In 2015, a division bench of the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of

Information Technology Act, 2000 The Information Technology Act, 2000 (also known as ITA-2000, or the IT Act) is an Act of the Indian Parliament (No 21 of 2000) notified on 17 October 2000. It is the primary law in India dealing with cybercrime and electronic commerce. Secon ...

. This was hailed as a major step in the country's quest for freedom of speech and expression.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singhal, Shreya Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Freedom of speech in India Supreme Court of India lawyers 21st-century Indian lawyers 21st-century Indian women lawyers Alumni of the University of Bristol Faculty of Law, University of Delhi alumni

Early life and education

Section 66A and Restriction of Free Speech

See also

References