Delhi HC refuses to grant interim relief to The Wire, The Quint and AltNews in challenge to IT Rules, 2021

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to grant interim relief in applications filed by news portals The Wire, The Quint and AltNews in their challenges to the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021).

A Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh granted time to the Central government and other respondents to reply to the applications filed for interim relief with respect to the Rules.

Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan urged the court to grant interim protection from coercive action under the Rules for the time being. However, the court refused the same and listed the matter for August 20, Bar & Bench reported.

The latest application for interim relief was filed by Pravda Foundation, which is the parent company of AltNews. When the matter was heard, a vacation bench had proceeded to list Pravda's application for interim relief on July 7 before the regular bench.

The IT Rules, 2021 are challenged as being ultra vires of Articles 19(1) (a), 19 (1) (g), 14 and 21 of the Constitution, as they impose government oversight and a Code of Ethics, thereby exceeding the scope of the parent Information Technology Act, 2000.

On March 19 this year, the court had issued notice to the Central government on both the writ petition and the application for stay on the IT Rules, 2021 filed by The Quint. The Centre had asked for more time and was granted the same in order to file a reply. However, no such reply had been filed.