The Karnataka High Court has granted X Corp (previously Twitter) "one more and last opportunity" to submit material to demonstrate compliance with the blocking orders imposed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
The counsel for X Corp informed the bench of Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice M G S Kamal that he was waiting for instructions from the client and requested time to do so.
The HC, while adjourning the case to September 15, made it clear that it was the last chance the company was being granted. “Today counsel for appellant prays for adjournment on the ground that he is awaiting instruction, accordingly one more and last opportunity is granted. Appeal is adjourned to September 15,” the HC recorded.
Twitter (later renamed X Corp) has petitioned the HC in response to various banning orders issued by the MeitY.
A single-judge bench dismissed the plea and fined the petitioner Rs 50 lakh for failing to comply with the Ministry's directions.
The company
filed an appeal with the division bench, which had previously ordered it to deposit Rs 25 lakh before the hearing. The Division Bench had also ordered Twitter to present documentation demonstrating that company had complied with the banning orders.
The HC during the hearing remarked that it was the duty of the company to satisfy the court; otherwise an inference can be drawn against it. The court said that the Ministry had claimed that there was no compliance by the company. “So, if you are still not in a position to submit before the court, then why should the appeal be allowed,” the Court observed orally.
MeitY had under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act issued 10 Government orders between February 2, 2021 and February 28, 2022 directing it to block 1,474 accounts, 175 Tweets, 256 URLs and one hashtag.
Twitter challenged the orders related to 39 of these URLs.
(With inputs from PTI)
