On Wednesday, the Madras High Court while hearing a PIL has issued Notices against conducting of online classes by schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu amid the lockdown, in the absence of requisite schemes and guidelines under the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The Notices has been issued to the Union of India, Union Ministry of Information & Technology, CERT, and other state authorities considering it as a matter of larger public importance.
The petition under Article 226 of the Constitution contended that conducting online classes in the absence of adequate laws to keep a check on the material being circulated thereon to the students, is unwarranted and not congenial for the purposes of education.
The petitioner apprehends that due to gap in the existing Rules viz., Information Technology Act, 2000 read alongwith the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules, 2009, The Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguard for Monitoring and Collecting Traffic Data or Information) Rules 2009, and The Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data of Information) Rules 2011,
The Court remarked:
"there is no guidelines restricting or checking the material which pops up on the Screen which may not be congenial for the education of the Students, who are constrained to undergo the Online Education."
The bench however didn't grant any interim relief to the Petitioner and consequently the schools and colleges may continue to conduct online classes for the time being and posted the matter for next hearing on June 25th.
The order has been passed by Justice Vineet Kothari and Justice R. Suresh Kumar on 10-06-2020.
Read Order Here:
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