Madras High Court issues notice in plea by TM Krishna challenging IT Rules, 2021

The Madras High Court today issued notice in a plea by Carnatic musician, author and activist TM Krishna challenging the validity of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021).

A Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy ordered the Centre to file a reply to the plea within three weeks. The matter has been listed for hearing in four weeks.

The petition, filed by TM Krishna, has been drafted by Internet Freedom Foundation of India (IFFI). It has challenged the Rules for being violative of the petitioner's fundamental rights and for being ultra vires of the parent provision. It is stated,

"The impugned rules offend my right as an artist and a cultural commentator by both imposing a chilling effect on free speech, and by impinging on my right to privacy."

The five grounds for the challenge are:

i) The Rules are violative of freedom of speech under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution.

ii) The Rules are violative of the freedom to practice any profession under Article 19 (1)(g) of the Constitution.

iii) The Rules are violative of the fundamental right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

iv) The Rules are violative of Article 14 of the Constitution for being arbitrary and over-delegating.

v) The Rules are ultra vires of the parent legislation, the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Krishna elaborates on the rationale behind his filing the challenge thus:

“As an artist and cultural and political commentator, I cherish and attach particular value to my rights to free expression and privacy under the Constitution of India. For me, privacy, like music itself, is an experience. When I think privacy, I think of life, intimacy, experience, discovery, security, happiness, the lack of fear and the freedom to create. I think liberty, dignity, and choice, as facets inherent in me not just as an artist but as a human being.”

The petition also discusses the judgment by the Apex Court in KS Puttaswamy v. Union of India, in which privacy was held to be a fundamental right.

“I took special joy in the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s judgement, when it recognised that the right to privacy was implicit in the guarantee of right to life and personal liberty under Article 21," the plea stated.

A number of challenges have been made against the IT Rules, 2021 in various High Courts across the country. In March this year, the Delhi High Court had issued notice in the plea filed by Foundation of Independent Journalism.

Advocates Suhrith Parthasarthy and Surasika Parthasarthy appeared for TM Krishna.