Case title: TV Today Network Limited and Anr. Vs Union of India and Ors
Case no.: W.P.(C) 4912/2024 & CM APPL. 20090/2024
Decision on: April 4th, 2024
Quoram: Hon’ble the Acting Chief Justice and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora
Facts of the case
In this case, the petitioners Instagram account created for its magazine Harper’s Bazaar India i.e.,”@bazaarindia” was suspended by the respondents based on third-party copyright complaints. Aggrieved by this, the petitioner’s filed a writ petition seeking a declaration that Rule 3(1)(c) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 is unconstitutional and contended that it must be read in a manner 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.
Submissions of the Petitioner
The Counsel for the petitioners contended that impugned action was undertaken without following any safeguards as provided under Rule 4(8) for identifying unlawful or infringing content under Rule 3(1)(b) of the IT Rules. He stated that restricting or terminating the petitioner no. 1’s access to the platform is violative of petitioners’ constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution. Further, he submitted that the respondent exploited the ambiguity created by the language of Rule 3(1)(c) & (d) of the IT Rule empowering them with absolute and unlimited discretion to suspend/terminate its user’s accounts without due process or giving the user a fair opportunity to contest such punitive action.
The Counsel stated that at the relevant stage, the Petitioner would file an appeal before the Grievance Appellate Committee as provided under Rule 3A of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
Court’s Direction
The Court directed the Grievance Appellant Committee to decide the Petitioners’ appeal as expeditiously as possible, preferably, within two weeks and listed the matter for further hearing May 17th, 2024.
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Judgement Reviewed by – Keerthi K
