Shojan Jacob, a Kerala based lawyer, has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Kerala High Court, challenging the constitutional validity of Rule 4 (intermediaries guidelines) of the IT Rules 2011, and Rules 8 and 16 of the IT Rules 2009 (Procedure and Safeguard for Blocking for access of Information by Public) deeming them as arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal and unconstitutional. The petitioner has said that the rules are in violation of the fundamental right of the internet users to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under art 19 1(a) of the Constitution of India. MediaNama is in possession of a copy of the petition, shared with us by the petitioner, who informs us that the matter came before the division bench of acting Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice PR Ramachandra Menon. In his petition, Jacob has asked the Court to: - Declare the particular rules arbitrary, unreasonable, illegal and unconstitutional, and issue guidelines to the Government to the effect that 'before banning the content it shall be done with the prior notice to the owner of the content/user concerned in accordance with the principles of natural justice.' - To issue guidelines to the Government to communicate to the owner of the content/ user concerned immediately after the blocking, banning or censoring the content a copy of the order stating reasons to enable them to resort to judicial remedies. - To direct the Government to instruct the Internet Service Providers (ISP) to develop the technical competence to block only the specified webpages/websites which have been directed by…
