SC to decide legality of Centre's fact-check unit

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that it would lay down the law on the Union government's attempt to establish a Fact-Checking Unit (FCU) to flag fake or misleading information about the business of the government, observing that individuals, digital platforms and intermediaries must share responsibility along with state institutions in tackling content that could be damaging to the nation.

- Utkarsh Anand [e-mail]

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi admitted the Centre's appeal against the Bombay high court's September 2024 judgment that struck down the provision enabling the government to set up such a unit under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

The court issued notices to comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India and the Association of Indian Magazines, who had challenged the rule before the high court. However, the bench declined the Centre’s request to keep the high court judgment in abeyance for now, stating that the Supreme Court would prefer to decide the constitutional question finally and without delay.

“No, no. We would like to decide this matter finally. It is better to decide such matters without delay,” the CJI said when solicitor general Tushar Mehta sought a stay on the high court verdict.