Mohammed Farooq Dhada, the father of Shaheen Dhada, whose Facebook post had created a nationwide stir in 2012,  said the credit for the Supreme Court striking down Section 66A of IT Act “must go to my daughter”.

A pleased Farooq Dhada said: “I never scolded her for (the post) and supported her always as she had done nothing wrong. We are happy by the verdict and all credit must go to my daughter.”

Shaheen Dhada became a national celebrity after her Facebook post questioned a spontaneous shutdown in Maharasthra, at the funeral of the late Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray on November 19, 2012 and her friend Renu Srinivasan ‘liked’ it.

Their innocuous social media action resulted in assault, illegal detention for 10 days and a subsequent compensated Rs.50,000 by the National Human Rights Commission through the Maharashtra government.

Shakil said he had spoken to his sister Shaheen who “is very happy about the SC ruling today”.

The duo also assured that they would support anybody else who faces a similar situation in future and urged the youth to emulate her example.