Delhi High Court: A petition was filed by TV Today Network Limited seeking a declaration that Rule 3(1)(c) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 is unconstitutional and/or that it be read down in a manner that is consistent with the intent and object of Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000, Section 52 of the Copyright Act, 1957 and Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution. The petitioners are aggrieved by suspension of instagram account of petitioner 1 created for its magazine Harper’s Bazaar India i.e.,”@bazaarindia” based on third-party copyright complaints. A division bench of Manmohan, ACJ., and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora, J., directs the Grievance Appellant Committee to decide the petitioners’ appeal as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within two weeks.
The case pertains to a writ petition filed challenging the constitutionality of Rule 3(1)(c) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The petitioners were aggrieved by the suspension of their Instagram account, which they claim was based on third-party copyright complaints. They argued that the suspension was executed without following the safeguards outlined in Rule 4(8) of the IT Rules, which require specific identification of unlawful or infringing content under Rule 3(1)(b) before takedown. They asserted that the suspension violated their constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 19.
Learned counsel for the petitioners contended that the impugned action lacked procedural safeguards and violated constitutional rights. They argued that the language of Rule 3(1)(c) and the third proviso to Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules granted excessive discretion to intermediaries like Instagram to suspend or terminate user accounts without due process. The counsel emphasized that this ambiguity allowed for arbitrary enforcement of policies without affording users a fair opportunity to contest such actions.
Thus, the Court issued notice to the unserved respondents and directed the Grievance Appellate Committee to expedite the hearing of the petitioners’ appeal, if filed.
[TV Today Network Limited v. Union of India, 2024 SCC OnLine Del 2412, decided on 04-04-2024]
Advocates who appeared in this case:
Mr. Abhishek Malhotra, Ms. Subhalaxmi Sen and Mr. Raghav Shukla, Advocates for petitioner
Mr. Kirtiman Singh, CGSC with Mr. Waize Ali Noor, Mr. Varun Pratap Singh, Mr. Kartik Baijal and Mr. Varun, Advocates for UOI
Buy Constitution of India HERE
