The Congress applauded the Bombay High Court`s decision to overturn modified Information Technology guidelines aimed at detecting "fake and false" comments regarding the government on social media. The court ruled that the rules seeking to establish a Fact-Check Unit (FCU) were unlawful.

The tiebreaker judge noted that the provisions empowered the government to decide what constitutes “false” or “fake” news without clear definitions

The Bombay High Court has recently raised concerns about the establishment of fact-checking units related to amendments in the..

On September 20, while pronouncing the order, Justice Chandurkar opined that “the amendments are violative of Article 14 and Article 19 of the Constitution of India,". The matter was referred to the third judge after a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Justice Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict in January 2024.

The court observed that the amended rules infringed the right to equality and freedom of speech and said the rules, being vague and broad, could cause a “chilling effect” not only on an individual but

The Bombay High Court struck down the 2023 IT Rules amendments, which gave the government authority to establish Fact Check Units (FCUs).

The Bombay High Court annulled provisions for establishing Fact Checking Units (FCUs) under the Information Technology Amendment Rules, 2023, citing violations of constitutional rights. The decision followed a split verdict in January and was delivered by 'tie-breaker judge' Justice AS Chandurkar.

Justice A S Chandurkar today heard the matter as a 'tie-breaker judge', after a division bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale in January delivered a split verdict on the petitions challenging the amended IT rules.

The Bombay High Court has struck down the Centre's amended IT rules that established a fact check unit to flag social media content about its functioning as 'fake, false or misleading'. The court found the unit unconstitutional due to its vagueness and potential chilling effect on free speech and trade.

Justice AS Chandurkar, in his opinion against the amendments to the IT Rules, cited multiple constitutional violations, including overreach on free speech and equality, as well as the vagueness of the rule's scope.

The Bombay High Court struck down the 2023 amendments to the IT Rules that empowered the government to flag "fake or misleading" content about its business on social media, declaring them unconstitutional.