The Union government has informed the Bombay High Court division bench comprising Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale that it will refrain from notifying its Fact Check Unit (FCU) under the recently amended Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 until September 4.
The FCU is designed to identify and address fake news related to the government, and its inclusion has been the subject of a batch of petitions challenging the amended Rules.
During the hearing before the court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested an adjournment in the hearing of the petitions, filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, and the Association of Indian Magazines. These petitioners have raised concerns over the constitutionality and arbitrariness of the amended IT rules, specifically challenging the provision for an FCU to flag and address false or misleading online content associated with the government.
Counsels for the petitioners have already concluded their arguments, and the court had scheduled Mr. Mehta's arguments for July 27 and 28. However, he asked for a later hearing, stating that he needed to prepare for appearing before a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court, commencing hearings on matters pertaining to Article 370 (which granted a special status to Jammu and Kashmir) from August 2.
In response to this request, the court decided to reschedule the hearing for August 31 and September 1. Solicitor General Mehta assured the court that the government's earlier statement, delaying the notification of the FCU, would remain in effect until September 4.
The Union government introduced amendments to the IT Rules on April 6, 2023, which included the provision for an FCU responsible for identifying and flagging fake or misleading content related to the government. The three petitioners sought the court's declaration that these amended Rules were unconstitutional and demanded that the government refrain from taking any action against individuals based on these Rules.
According to the affidavit filed by the Union government in comedian Kunal Kamra's petition, the FCU's role is limited to matters concerning the business of the Centre, which may involve information about policies, programs, notifications, rules, and their implementation.
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