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Top Court has been told that the constitution of the FCU could lead to users such as the Petitioner facing potentially devastating and irretrievable consequences if their accounts were to be suspended or potentially deactivated upon the notification of (and subsequent action by) the fact check unit
Kunal Kamra has approached the Supreme Court of India seeking to injunct Union of India from notifying the Fact Check Units proposed to be constituted under Rule 3(i)(II)(C) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules 2023.
This relief has been sought in an SLP filed against a Bombay High Court order whereby his interim application seeking to direct the Central Government not to notify the Fact Check Unit was rejected by Justice AS Chandurkar.
"The Union of India has failed to explain why the existing Press Information Bureau (PIB), which has been functioning for years, cannot continue to undertake the task of disseminating accurate information about the Central Government’s functioning and has failed to demonstrate how staying the notification of the FCU envisaged under the Impugned Rule till the instant matter is finally decided will “affect the nation’s interest”,....", the SLP states.
Arguing that the balance of convenience necessarily tilts in his favour as there exist less restrictive measures at the disposal of the Union, the plea submits, "Given the potential impact of the constitution of 56 the FCU on fundamental rights, including under Article 19(1)(a) and Article 19(1)(g), the introduction of such a measure (by rejecting interim relief), must be avoided as a matter of law."
Justice AS Chandurkar, the third judge hearing the case in the high court, while rejecting Kamra's plea stated that the petitioner did not make a case for the court to pass an order to continue the statement made by the Central Government not to notify the Fact Check Unit (FCU).
The high court rejecting the interim application effectively allows the Central Government to notify the Fact Check Unit under the amended IT Rules to identify and order take down of fake, false, and misleading news on social media.
Recently, a division bench of the high court comprising Justice GS Patel and Justice Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict in the petitions challenging Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023.
In the split verdict, Justice Patel struck down the amended rule establishing FCU while Justice Gokhale ruled against the petitioners.
Case Title: Kunal Kamra vs. Union of India
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