Bombay HC gives interim stay to part of IT Rules for digital publishers

The Bombay High Court has granted an interim stay to the operation of parts of the recently notified Information Technology Rules 2021 which require that all online publishers follow a code of ethics and norms of conductA bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni stayed subclauses 1 and 3 of clause 9 of the Information Technology Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules 2021 It found prima facie on the face of it that these subclauses violated the petitioners constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 the high court said Provisions of clause 9 also went beyond the scope of the substantive law the Information Technology Act of 2000 it saidThe order came on petitions filed by legal news portal The Leaflet and journalist Nikhil Wagle which challenged several provisions of the new IT Rules claiming that they were vague and likely to have a chilling effect on a citizens right to free speech guaranteed by the ConstitutionThe Rules went beyond the scope of the main IT Act and also the reasonable restrictions on freedom of speech and expression allowed by Article 19 2 of the Constitution the petitioners saidThe HC however refused to stay clause 14 that pertains to the setting up of an interministerial committee with powers to regulate online content and deal with grievances and breach of rules and clause 16 which is about blocking of online content in case of an emergency As such a committee was yet to be formed it did not see any reason to stay clauses 14 and 16 at present the court said The HC also did not stay subclause 2 of clause 9 which provides for action in case of the contravention of any law in force for the time beingThe petitioners had sought an interim stay on the implementation of the new IT Rules till the court gives its final decision in the matter Senior counsel Darius Khambata a lawyer for The Leaflet had argued that the new IT Rules were beyond the rulemaking power of the Union government as the parent Act that is the Information Technology Act did not provide for anything seeking to regulate ethics and content of online publishers On Friday the HC had asked the Union government what was the need to introduce the new IT Rules 2021 without superseding the existing IT Rules of 2009The Union governments lawyer Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh had defended making the code of ethics mandatory saying the Press Council of India PCI also prescribes a code of ethics for journalists The norms prescribed by the PCI along with the Cable TV code would be mandatory for digital media under the new rules he had said But the judges had pointed out that the PCIs guidelines were in the nature of advisory norms of behaviour and did not carry any drastic punishment for a breach ASG Singh had contended that the need to bring in new rules was felt for checking the spread of fake news and illegal content in the digital spaceAlso Read New IT rules Unless there is liberty of thought one cant express oneself says Bombay HCWe may observe that as far as clause 14 is concerned there is no immediate urgency as Committee is not set up In these circumstances the oversight committee itself has not taken effect We urge petitioners to come as and when it is set up the court order said We find no case is made out for stay on clause 16 Hence that is not stayed Clause 9 prima facie seems to be against the freedom of speechWe have stayed 9 1 and 3 and not 2 the court said The bench refused the Centres request to stay the order for a few weeks It also directed the Union government to file a detailed affidavit replying to the issues raised by the petitioners within three weeks The high court will hear the petitions further on September 27This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever