In 2014, film director Ram Gopal Varma made fun of Lord Ganesha on Twitter, mocking his physical appearance and questioning his divine abilities. Needlessly to say, this riled some people up and one of them even went to the court. Now two years later, a local magistrate in Mumbai has ordered Varma to appear in the court or respond to the complaint by July 19, reports the Press Trust of India. The judge cited section 295 (a) and 505 of IPC and 66 (A) of Information Technology Act, that was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of India in 2015, in his order. Section 66(A) of Information Technology Act, 2008 is controversial because of its broadly worded language with expressions such as “grossly offensive,” “annoyance,” “inconvenience,"ill will." Law enforcement authorities have often invoked it to muzzle any kind of offensive or dissenting voices, and critics say that it is against free speech. In Varma's case, the judge said in his order: "During inquiry, the police found that Varma had during Ganesh immersion in 2014 had commented about God Ganesh on Twitter which had tendency to outrage religious feelings of people," the magistrate said in the order. It's strange to see the judge reference 66A when it has been declared unconstitutional, and the grounds for restrictions on free speech are clearly defined by the supreme Court: Written words may be sent that may be purely in the realm of “discussion” or “advocacy” of a “particular point of view”. Further, the mere…
