The Bombay High Court has invalidated an amendment to IT rules that allowed the government to set up fact-check units for identifying false news about it on social media. The court found the rule vague and disproportionate,

The petitioners, satirist Kunal Kamra, Editors Guild of India, Association of Indian Magazines and the News Broadcasters & Digital Association had challenged the validity of the rules as being ultra vires or exceeding the provisions of the Information Technology Act,

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.

Bombay HC strikes down IT Amendment Rules 2023 allowing government to form fact-check units, citing constitutional violations.

The Bombay High Court on Friday (Sep 20) struck down the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules which sought to identify fake and false content on social media against the government by terming it 'unconstitutional'.

The matter was referred to a third judge after a division bench of Justice Gautam Patel and Justice Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict on January 31

Mumbai: A single-judge bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday set aside the IT Amendment Rules, 2023, which allows the central government to form fact-check units. Justice A.S. Chandurkar's order breaks the tie of the split verdict given earlier by a two-judge bench of the high court regarding the validity of the IT Amendment Rules 2023.