The Karnataka High Court has proposed sending the blocking orders issued against Elon Musk-owned X Corp (formerly Twitter) back to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) for a detailed explanation. This decision comes after a single-judge bench observed that the blocking orders lacked justification. In June, a judge had imposed a penalty of Rs 50 lakh on X Corp,
The Karnataka HC on Wednesday (September 20) questioned the validity of the blocking orders and expressed concerns over the lack of proper reasoning provided by the government. The court stated that the blocking orders could not be summarily sent back to the Secretary of MEITY and insisted that MEITY itself should be responsible for justifying the orders.
The single-judge bench was critical of the government's actions, particularly the imposition of the penalty on X Corp without any specific provision under the Information Technology Rules.
The High Court has granted the Centre a one-week period to respond. The court has also deferred the next hearing in this case to September 27, allowing both parties more time to prepare their arguments and submissions.