Govt may seek 2015 order review

THE KARNATAKA HIGH COURT TOOK NOTE OF CENTRE’S SUBMISSIONS ON THE ‘DRAMATIC TRANSFORMATION OF THE INTERNET LANDSCAPE SINCE 2015’ WHEN THE SHREYA SINGHAL JUDGMENT WAS DELIVERED

- Ayesha Arvind

The Supreme Court's landmark 2015 judgment in Shreya Singhal vs Union of India addressed a bygone regime and cannot be “mechanically applied” to the 2021 Information Technology rules that demand their own interpretative regime, the Karnataka high court has held, noting the vastly changed digital landscape since the milestone verdict.

In his 350-page judgment passed last week but made public on Monday, justice M Nagaprasanna also noted that during the arguments in X Corp's petition challenging the Union government's Sahyog portal—the judge dismissed the American social media giant's plea—the Centre also hinted that it will seek review of the 2015 verdict.

“The learned solicitor general for the Union of India has submitted that...the Union is contemplating to seek a review of Shreya Singhal,” the order said.

Justice M Nagaprasanna also said the top court's 2015 ruling, delivered when India had only 250 million internet subscribers, compared to 980 million now, cannot be “mechanically applied” to the 2021 IT Rules, given the “complete change” in intermediary regulation and the near fourfold jump in internet penetration.