Bombay HC strikes down amended IT Rules, terms them as unconstitutional

The Bombay High Court on Friday held as unconstitutional and struck down the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules which sought to identify fake and false content on social media against the government. The matter was assigned to Justice A S Chandurkar as 'tie-breaker judge', after a division bench in January delivered a split verdict on the petitions challenging the amended IT rules. Justice Chandurkar on Friday held that the rules violated constitutional provisions. "I have considered the matter extensively. The impugned rules are violative of Article 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression) and 19(1)(g) (freedom and right to profession) of the Constitution of India," the judge said. The expression "fake, false and misleading" in the Rules was "vague and hence wrong" in the absence of any definition, he added. With this ruling, the high court allowed the petitions filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra and others challenging the new rules, including the