Fact Check Unit for online content will not be notified till Sept 4: Centre tells Bombay HC

The high court agreed to Mehta’s request and posted it to be heard next on August 31 and September 1. The Centre said that the earlier statement not to notify the FCU till July 28 will be extended till September 4, which the bench accepted.

A division bench of Justices Gautam S Patel and Neela K Gokhale has been hearing petitions by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, Editors Guild of India, News Broadcasters and Digital Association and Association of Indian Magazines challenging the IT Rules amended in April this year. As per the rules, 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).

The bench on July 14, while hearing pleas, had said that in a democratic process, it is a fundamental right of citizens to doubt, question and demand answers from the government and the government is duty-bound to respond to the same. The petitioners concluded their arguments on July 14. The bench had also said the government is also a participant in the democratic process like citizens and it is not a “repository of truth that cannot be questioned”.