SC transfers pleas against IT Rules 2021 to Delhi HC

The Supreme Court on Friday transferred to the Delhi High Court a batch of pleas pending before different high courts across the country challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

A bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted that several petitions were pending on the issue before different high courts including Karnataka, Madras, Calcutta, Kerala and Bombay high courts.

“In order to avoid contradictory judgments, the Union of India would wish to have all matters consolidated for analogous hearing. Since a large number of these cases are pending consideration before the Delhi High Court, we deem it appropriate to transfer the matters in various HCs to the Delhi HC,” the bench said.