On Thursday, the High Court of Delhi issued notice to the Centre on a plea seeking direction to striking down Rule 3 & 4 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, as unconstitutional & ultra vires the IT Act, 2000.
On Thursday, a bench of Justice DN Patel & Justice Jyoti Singh sought a response from the Union of India through the Ministry of Electronics & Information & Technology & slated the matter for further hearing in the matter on Sept 13th.
The petitioner Uday Bedi, a practising lawyer, challenged the impugning Rules 3 & 4 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 which have been brought into force from Feb 25, 2021, as a user of social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram etc.
It is as such directly impacted by the coming into force of the Impugned Rules as the same have far-reaching consequences on the fundamental rights of the Petitioner guaranteed under Articles 14, 19 & 21 of the Constitution of India, 1950, i.e. the right to freedom of speech & expression & the right to privacy, the plea stated.
The plea said that by the coming in force of the Impugned Rules as various clients of the petitioner are now vary of contacting him on the Social Media platforms such as Whatsapp, Telegram etc. which are very commonly used for discussing sensitive details regarding their cases in view of the deep & pervasive powers arbitrarily handed over to private companies operating the social media platforms/intermediaries under the Impugned Rules.
It further said that the Impugned Rules are liable to be struck down as the same has been made in bad faith & in disregard of the doctrine of separation of powers & checks & balances that exists in a democratic form of Govt.
The Impugned Rules, the Respondent has given private SMIs the power to entertain & act upon complaints received by private persons, as well as on a voluntary basis to delete access to any information available on their platform if the conditions prescribed in Rule 3(1)(b) & 3(1)(d) are met.
The power to put the Petitioner & other users under constant surveillance also bear no rational nexus with the objective of the IT Act, 2000 & is therefore in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. IT Act, 2000 does not in any manner give sweeping powers to the intermediaries, therefore, the Rules go beyond the scope of the IT Act, 2000 & sub-delegate powers which the Respondent was not authorized to making the rules ultra vires the IT Act, 2000, plea read.
There are several petitions also examined by the Delhi High Court challenging various sections of newly-amended IT Rules introduced by the Ministry of Electronics & Information & Technology including the Plea of numerous Digital News Portals & Individuals.
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