CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has informed the Madras High Court that it has begun the process for formulating a standard operating procedure (SOP) on handling political criticism and social media posts.
Additional public prosecutor Arun Anbumani made the submission before the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan on Wednesday when a public interest litigation (PIL) petition filed by advocate H Syed Halim came up for hearing.
The petitioner had sought the court to issue directions to the concerned authorities of the government to frame uniform guidelines for the police for dealing with political criticism and comments made against the ruling party on social media and public platforms.
“We are in the process (of formulating SOP). It is already on,” the APP told the court.
He noted that two other petitions have been pending before a single judge on the related matters and the police have given an undertaking on formulating the SOP by looking into all the aspects.
He also said the Police authorities have to discuss the matter with the social media networks since they have got a set of rules which they apply on posts they think violative of the rules and guidelines.
The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the petition was filed in the larger interest of seeking uniform safeguards on police authorities taking up complaints arising out of political criticism and social media posts.
The bench ordered notice to the respondent authorities including the DGP granting them two weeks’ time for filing reply to the PIL.
The petitioner had noted the recent incidents of arrest involving Vilathikulam DMK MLA GV Markandayan and the party’s IT wing activists Anbanandam and Vinoth Suriya Kumar who faced police action for making certain allegations and comments against the ruling dispensation.
He said the police register FIRs under pressure from their political bosses without even checking the maintainability of such complaints or the locus standi of the complainants and how they were aggrieved.
The petitioner prayed for a direction to the DGP to take a reasoned decision on issuing a police standing order or circular prescribing “uniform administrative safeguards” for police stations, cybercrime units and investigation officers while receiving, registering and investigating complaints arising from social media posts, political criticism, satire and online speech.
He said the police shall ensure such complaints “are not entertained mechanically” and that the ingredients of the alleged offences, the circumstances of the speech and the constitutional protection under Article 19 (1) (a) and 19 (2) and 21 are properly considered at the threshold.
