The Bombay High Court on February 8 assigned a third judge to give opinion on the split verdict on pleas challenging the validity of amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, specifically Rule 3, which give power to the Central government to form Fact Check Units (FCUs).
Justice Atul S Chandurkar will decide if the FCU can be notified, said Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, passing the order on Thursday.
The Centre had informed the Bombay High Court that its statement of not notifying FCU would continue until the third judge takes up an interim application for further consideration.
On January 31, a Division Bench had delivered a split verdict on a batch of petitions that challenged the IT rules amendment. While Justice Gautam S Patel had agreed with the petitioners’ contentions and struck down the amendment, Justice Neela K Gokhale upheld the government’s stand. The Bench asked the Registry to submit the petitions before Chief Justice Upadhyaya to refer the plea to the third judge.
Appearing for the Ministry of Electronics, Information and Technology (MeITY), Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the FCU would not be notified for another 10 days, and he did not have further instructions for any extension. On this, the High Court said, “It is a matter of administrative courtesy to the Chief Justice and the third judge who will take up these matters.”
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On February 5, the four petitioners — satirist Kunal Kamra, Editors Guild of India, Association of Indian Magazines and News Broadcast and Digital Association — had approached Chief Justice Upadhyaya regarding the delay in assigning third judge to hear the pleas. Senior advocate Navroz Seervai sought that the Bench led by Justice Patel be reconstituted and decide on the extension of the Centre’s statement.
On Thursday, Mr. Mehta said that his earlier assurance that the government would not notify the formation of FCUs would continue till the third judge takes up hearing on the application.
