Animal Rights Activist Manoj Oswal was arrested by the Cyber Crime Cell in Pune on the basis of a complaint made by Sakal Papers Pvt Ltd., where he was charged under Section 500 of the IPC (Defamation) and Section 66A of the IT Act.
Oswal had been writing in support of one Lila Parulekar on two websites, namely www.savelila.in and www.jeevraksha.org, which were created by a support group called 'Jeevraksha' to generate awareness and support for Lila Parulekar. In his posts, Oswal had made comments about one Mr. Prataprao Pawar (Chairman of Sakal Papers) grabbing the land of an animal shelter and illegally detaining Lila Parulekar in her own house. Oswal had also distributed pamphelts containing defamatory remarks about Mr. Pawar.
Oswal was arrested by the Pune Police on 25 November, 2011 and subsequently released on Bail. He then filed a Petition before the High Court contending section 66A of the IT Act to be ultra vires the Constitution, and sought directions from the Court to the effect that no further arrests be made or cases be filed against those who disclose information in the public domain. The Petition is listed for hearing on 11 April, 2014.
