Bombay HC stays 2 clauses of IT Rules on code of ethics

The Bombay high court on Saturday stayed two clauses of the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 that required publishers of online news portals, online news aggregators, etc to observe the code of ethics and provided a three-tier mechanism for ensuring compliance.

A division bench of chief justice Dipankar Datta and justice Girish Kulkarni declared that Rule 9(1) and Rule 9(3) were prima face an intrusion on the freedom of speech and expression and also went beyond the scope of substantial law — the Information Technology Act, 2000 — under which the rules were made by the ministry of electronics and information technology.