Karnataka High Court admits X Corp's appeal after govt says it won’t reconsider takedown orders

The Union government on Wednesday informed the Karnataka High Court that there are no changed circumstances for it to reconsider the blocking orders issued between February 2, 2021, till February 28, 2022 period against US based multi-blogger platform X Corp (formerly Twitter). Considering this submission, a division bench comprising Justices G Narendar and Vijayakumar A Patil has adjourned to November 9 the hearing on the writ appeal filed by X Corp.

The bench is hearing the appeal filed by X Corp challenging June 30, 2023 order of the single bench dismissing its petition filed questioning series of blocking orders issued by the Union government. The single bench had also imposed a cost of Rs 50 lakh for indulging in speculative litigation.

In the previous hearing, the bench had indicated that it may send back the matter relating to blocking orders if the central government is willing to reconsider. After the Union government informed its stand, the bench indicated that it would consider the question as to whether reasons have to be communicated to the platform and users of the accounts, while issuing blocking orders. The bench observed that in the Shreya Singhal case, the Apex Court had indicated that such blocking orders are open to judicial review.

In its appeal, X Corp has stated that the single bench had erroneously held that section 69A (1) of the Information Technology Act does not require blocking orders to contain reasons in writing. The company further contended that the failure on the part of the union government to comply with Rule 14 of the Blocking Rules has been ignored by the single bench.