IT Rules: After Bombay HC’s split verdict, third judge to hear pleas from Feb 28

Justice AS Chandurkar of the Bombay High Court will hear the petitions  challenging the amendment to the IT Rules, which allows the government to identify “fake news” about itself on social media, Livelaw reported. The hearing will begin on February 28. 

This comes over 15 days after the Bombay High Court delivered a split verdict in the petitions challenging the amendment were filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines. 

On January 31, Justice Gautam Patel of the division bench had upheld the petitioners’ contentions, while Justice Neela Gokhale had supported the government’s argument. 

During the hearing today, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta reassured the court that the government “will not notify the fact-check unit” under the IT Rules amendment “till the interim application is decided”.

The amendment, originally notified on April 6 last year, said social media companies and other intermediaries must take down content deemed fake by a government fact-check unit. It was widely criticised by press groups, opposition leaders and journalists.

In September last year, the Bombay High Court agreed that the amendment gives the government “unfettered power” in the absence of any “guidelines and guardrails”. At the time, Justices Patel and Gokhale had also questioned the government over the need for the amendment and the provision for a separate fact-check unit despite the establishment of the Press Information Bureau’s own fact-check unit.

Newslaundry reported on length on the controversies surrounding the amendment and why it’s a blow for press freedom. Read here.

Importantly, this development must be read in the context of other news this week, when a ministry directed The Caravan to take down a story that criticised the Indian army. Read about it here. 

This report was published with AI assistance.

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