Who is Shreya Singhal?
-Great-granddaughter of former Law Minister HR Gokhale and granddaughter of Justice Sunanda Bhandare.
- Did her schooling at Vasant Valley School, Delhi and studied astrophysics at Bristol University, UK.
- Returned to Delhi in 2012 to apply to law schools when she encountere high-profile arrests under section 66A.
- By her own admission the abuse of Section 66A enraged her.
I was enraged. The law was blatantly being misused. Section 66 is so vague in its definition of what goes on the Internet.
-Shreya Singhal, Petitioner
- Prompted by her mother, also a lawyer, she filed a Public Interest Litigation against section 66A with the help of a lawyer.
- Her case was first taken up by the then CJI Altamas Kabir who wondered why the provisions hadn’t been questioned earlier.
I couldn’t just sit down waiting for somebody to do something about it. I stood up and decided to explore the option I had.
-Shreya Singhal, Petitioner
Fun Fact
According to a report by Rediff, one of Shreya’s aunts Shivani Sibal is married to Akhil Sibal whose father Kapil Sibal who is the author of the IT Act and the contentious section 66A.
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