'Not Urgent' : Delhi High Court Adjourns Media Houses' Pleas Challenging IT Rules 2021 Till August

The Delhi High Court bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on Thursday adjourned the hearing of the petitions filed by digital mediahouses 'The Quint' and The Wire' challenging the Information Technology (Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to August 4 on grounds of non-urgency.

Counsel for one of the individual petitioners in the batch of pleas contended that the matter was urgent due as it concerned the infringement of fundamental rights.

However, the bench expressed that the matter was not urgent and adjourned the hearing till August 4.

On Wednesday, the Government of India also wrote to various social media platforms enquiring about compliance with the abovementioned rules.

The pleas challenge the constitutional validity of the Information Technology (Guidelines For Intermediaries And Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, to the extent it regulates the publishers of news and current affairs content.

Ritu Kapur, the Director and Co-Founder of 'The Quint', is also a petitioner in the case. 'Foundation for Independent Journalism'(a non-profit company which owns 'The Wire'), Founder and Editor-in-Chief of 'The News Minute' Dhanya Rajendran and Founding Editor of 'The Wire' MK Venu are the petitioners in the other case.

Though Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan had earlier sought for interim protection for the petitioners from coercive steps under Part 3 of the Rules(which deals with digital media), the bench said that it will not grant it as of now. However the bench had expressed that in case any coercive steps are taken, the petitioners will be at liberty to seek an urgent hearing.

The petition, filed through Advocate Prasanna S and Vinoothna Vinjam, contends that the new Rules are ultra vires the Constitution of India as well as the Information Technology Act to the extent they impose unreasonable and arbitrary restrictions on digital news media. It is highlighted that the parent statute of the Rules, the IT Act, does not deal with digital media, and hence, the executive rules made under the said Act to regulate online news publishers are invalid.

The petition states that the Rules amount to an "overreach" as they incorporate the vague and arbitrary norms under the Press Council Act and the Programme Code, that too by way of subordinate legislation, in order to vest "draconian powers and control" with the executive, contends the petition.

"The regulations are frontally offensive to Article 19(1)(a) and Article 14. A restriction on the Fundamental Right to free speech andexpression can only be to the extent strictly necessary for the stated interests in Article 19(2). Digital news portals such as the Quint, published by the Petitioners, are already subject to all the civil and criminal laws enacted for those interests. Therefore, the IT Rules, 2021 cannot be in the interest of Article 19(2). They are only meant to be a ruse for the State to enter and directly control the content of digital news portals", the plea states.

On Wednesday, WhatsApp had moved the Delhi High Court challenging the 'traceability' clause under the new IT Rules.

In March 2020,  the Kerala High Court had issued notice to the Centre on a petition filed by LiveLaw challenging the new IT Rules. The High Court also passed an interim order restraining coercive action under Part 3 of the Rules against LiveLaw, its Chief Editor MA Rashid and Managing Editor Manu Sebastian.