The Bombay high court on Saturday stayed two provisions of the new IT Rules – rules 9(1) and 9(3) – which say that digital news media and publishers should adhere to the ‘Code of Ethics’ laid out in the rules.
The court was hearing petitions filed by The Leaflet and Nikhil Wagle against the new rules.The bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni, however, pointed out that the relief was only applicable to the two petitioners in question, Bar and Bench reported.
The rules being stayed, the high court noted, prima facie violate the right to freedom of speech under Article 19 of the constitution and also went against the IT Act, under which the new rules were formed.
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