Twitter not entitled to any relief, Centre tells Karnataka HC

Having previously made a reference to a UK court decision in favour of blocking social media accounts, the ASG went on to cite the case of Anuradha Bhasin v Union of India, where the petition to fully restore internet to Jammu and Kashmir was not decided in the favour of the petitioner. In this case, the ASG took note of the test that was applied, which was that in such cases there would have to be a pursuit of the aim of the state, a rational connection between the measures taken and the objective, as well as proportionality. He pointed out that it was all right for people to join a platform but it became an issue if national integrity and sovereignty were threatened.

The ASG also took note of a Madras High Court case where it was sought to link Aadhaar cards for Facebook use to point out the importance of the user’s identity.

The ASG also argued that Twitter had fallen back on Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Blocking Rules), 2009, [Strict confidentiality shall be maintained regarding all complaints] but pointed out that tweets were being made referring to ‘Indian Occupied Kashmir’ and the supposed survival of slain LTTE leader Prabhakaran.

Concluding the hearing, the bench requested an updated copy of the submissions made by the government in the case. The matter will be further heard on April 10.