Bombay High Court strikes down IT Rules amendment by which govt could ‘fact-check’ news on itself

The Bombay High Court today struck down the 2023 amendments to the IT Rules that permit the central government to “fact-check” news about itself on social media platforms.

As reported by LiveLaw, Justice Atul Chandurkar said the amendments are “violative of Article 14 and Article 19 of the Constitution of India”. He also said the amendments violate Article 21 and did not satisfy “the test of proportionality”.

Justice Chandurkar is the court’s tie-breaker judge, appointed in February after a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Dr Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict on the issue in January. The former proposed to strike down the amendments while the latter upheld them. Justice Patel subsequently said, “There is a disagreement between us. I have held for the petitions and Justice Gokhale has held for the government. So now the matter will be heard afresh by a third judge.”

In August, the Bombay High Court had reserved its judgement in the matter.

Background of the case

The amendments proposed the establishment of a “fact-check unit” by the central government to identify “fake news” about itself on social media and order its takedown. The amendments were widely criticised by press groups, opposition leaders and journalists. 

Petitions challenging the amendments were filed by comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, the Association of Indian Magazines, and the News Broadcast and Digital Association. Kamra’s counsel had previously said the fact-check unit has a “chilling effect on free speech” while the advocate representing the Editors Guild said a “central authority will stamp out all other voices”.

In March, Justice Chandurkar had refused to stay the notification of the centre’s fact-check unit. In the same month, less than a day after the centre notified the fact-check unit under the amended IT Rules, the Supreme Court stayed its operation. 

Reactions

After the court verdict today, the Editors Guild, one of the petitioners, issued a statement welcoming the verdict.

“The Editors Guild of India deeply appreciates the help of the legal team that has spearheaded this effort. The petition was settled and argued by Senior Advocate Shadan Farasat along with Advocates Natasha Maheshwari, Hrishika Jain, and Niharika. The petition was filed by the Bombay counsel Bimal Rajshekhar. The Guild also congratulates and thanks all the other petitioners and their legal team,” the statement said.

Kamra, one of the other petitioners, tweeted the preamble to the Constitution with the text, “They may keep trying, but we the people of India will always uphold the constitution to humble those who are drunk on Power...”

Newslaundry has reported on length on the controversies surrounding the amendment and why it’s a blow for press freedom. Read about it here.

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