"Verdict against 66 A upholds freedom of speech and expression" : Petitioner
"I am ecstatic. It was grossly offensive to our rights, our freedom of speech and expression and today the Supreme Court has upheld that," she told NDTV moments after the court scrapped the law.
The apex court held that the section is unconstitutional and violates the rights of citizens.
"Nobody should have fear of putting up something because of the fear of going to prison. The court has upheld the rights of all citizens today," Singhal, whose mother is a Supreme Court lawyer and grandmother was a judge, said.
She was 21 when she filed a petition in 2012, after two young women were arrested for posting comments critical of the total shutdown in Mumbai after the death of Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena chief.
Shreya told NDTV that her family encouraged her. "I am also a law student so through my studies also I knew that you can approach the Supreme Court directly," she said, aware that she has achieved, even before becoming a lawyer, what many veterans in the profession haven't.
"It is being misused by BJP governments, Congress governments... all over the country. Even when the Congress was in power, it was being misused. Governments have their own political agenda; a law has to be for the people," she said.
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