The Bombay High Court bench led by Justice Gautam S Patel on Friday said that it is likely to pronounce on January 5, 2024 the verdict on a handful of petitions including one filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, challenging the amended IT Rules which empowered the government to identify ‘fake news’ on social media platforms through the Fact Check Unit (FCU). The Central government told the HC that the FCU, set up to identify fake news related to the government published online, will not be notified till the judgement is passed. The HC had on September 29 concluded the hearing and reserved its verdict and had said the same will be announced on December 1. However, on Friday, a bench of Justices Patel and Neela K Gokhale said the judgement was not ready yet and added, "We are seeking adjournment now. We will try to give the verdict by December 11." Thereafter, the Centre's lawyer said that the court could keep the matter post-Christmas vacation and the government's earlier statement would stand extended till then. The bench agreed and posted the matter to January 5, when it will "most probably" pronounce the verdict. Along with Kamra, Editors Guild of India, News Broadcasters and Digital Association, and Association of Indian Magazines have filed their pleas challenging amended IT Rules. The pleas challenged the constitutional validity of Rule 3 (1) (II) (A) and (C) of the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, stating that this would, in effect, amend Rules 3 (1) (a) and 3 (1) (b) (v) of the IT Rules, 2021, violating several Supreme Court judgments and fundamental rights under constitution. According to the IT rules amended in April this year, content marked by the FCU as “fake or misleading” will have to be taken down by online intermediaries if they wish to retain their “safe harbour” (legal immunity against third-party content).
