IT Rules: Delhi HC refuses to stay preventive action against some media organizations

The Delhi HC on Wednesday has declined to grant interim protection from coercive action to digital media portals for not following IT rules.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday has refused to stay preventive action against some digital news platforms for not complying with the new IT rules. A bench headed by Chief Justice DN Patel has directed the central government to file its reply by August 20 to respond to this petition. During the hearing, Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing on behalf of three media organizations challenging the IT Rules, said the central government's conduct was totally in the face of the Supreme Court decision that government regulation of the content of media is unacceptable. She also urged the court to pass an order of interim protection as the Central government was yet to reply to the petitions filed by digital media portals.

However, Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma said that 1700 digital media firms had already submitted information as per the IT Rules. Reacting to this, Nitya Ramakrishnan said that this is not a matter of voice vote and that the digital media portals preferred to challenge the new IT Rules. The Court, however, declined to pass any order and directed the Centre to file a counter-affidavit.

Read:We are not giving any protection to Twitter, Centre is free to take action: Delhi HC

Earlier on June 21, Justice Anoop Jairabh Bhambhani had recused himself from hearing the petition. Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan, appearing for the digital media organizations, had said that the new IT rules would require the news media to go through an additional regulatory regime and that media organizations should be exempted from preventive action under Section 3 of the IT Rules.

As per the amended Information Technology Rules, social media and streaming companies will need to take down contentious info on an immediate basis, appoint grievance redressal officers and also assist in investigations. The news portals in their pleas mentioned that a specific part of the IT Rules violates Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution creating a chilling effect on media freedom, Article 14 of the Constitution by creating an unreasonable classification. The 2021 Rules regulate the functioning of online media platforms, OTT platforms, and social media.

Read:Twitter will be in trouble if it fails to comply with India rules: HC