Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Apr 3: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday declined to grant interim relief to Elon Musk-owned X Corp in its legal battle against the Indian government’s Sahyog portal blocking mechanism.
A bench led by Justice M. Nagaprasanna ruled against the plea and scheduled the next hearing for April 24.
The Sahyog portal is a government initiative designed to automate the process of issuing notices to online intermediaries under the Information Technology Act, 2000. It facilitates the removal or disabling of access to content deemed unlawful by the government or its agencies.
During the hearing, X Corp’s senior counsel, K.G. Raghavan, argued that while the platform fully intends to comply with Indian laws, it finds the Sahyog portal’s blocking mechanism legally flawed. He requested that the court restrain the government from taking coercive action against the platform.
However, the court noted that the Indian government had already assured that no coercive measures would be taken against X Corp at this stage, making further interim relief unnecessary.
Raghavan also emphasized that X Corp is committed to addressing issues such as offensive content and deepfakes but expressed concerns over the discretionary powers exercised under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000. This provision removes "safe harbour" protections for social media platforms if they fail to act against unlawful content after receiving government notices.
Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Arvind Kamath represented the government, strongly objecting to X Corp’s characterization of the Sahyog portal as a "censorship portal." In its previous submission to the court on March 29, the government had dismissed X’s allegations as misleading and legally flawed.
The Centre argued that X Corp, as an intermediary, does not qualify as a user and accused it of misrepresenting the issue to avoid compliance. The government also contended that the Sahyog portal operates within the legal framework established by the IT Act and is in line with the Supreme Court’s ruling in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India.
X Corp maintains that the government’s approach through the Sahyog portal bypasses the legal procedures outlined in the IT Act and is challenging the mechanism in court.