Centre seeks transfer of pleas challenging IT Rules from high courts to SC

The Union government on Tuesday filed an application in the Supreme Court seeking transfer to the top court of all the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, filed in high courts across the country.

In its transfer petition in the Supreme Court, the Centre said petitions against the IT Rules have been moved in high courts like Delhi, Bombay, Madras and Kerala, adding that only the apex court should adjudicate the issue. In the Madras high court, for example, petitions have been filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNP), comprising 13 media outlets, along with senior journalist Mukund Padmanabhan seeking that the court declare that the rules are in violation of fundamental rights granted by the Constitution.