The Bombay High Court on Thursday, September 26, struck down the Centre's Fact Check Unit rule following the opinion of the third judge against it. The court declared the amendment to the IT Rules, 2021, is ‘unconstitutional’ and nullified the rule that established Fact Check Units (FCUs) to identify 'fake, false and misleading' information about the Centre's business posted on social media.
A two judges bench comprising Justices Ajay Gadkari and Neela Gokhale, following the opinion of Justice AS Chandurkar as the third judge after a split decision by the original two-judge bench, allowed the petitions filed by comedian Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, the Association of Indian Magazines, and the News Broadcasters and Digital Association.
On Thursday, the bench stated, "In view of the majority opinion, rule 3(1)(v) is declared unconstitutional and is struck down. Petitions are accordingly allowed."
Justice Chandurkar, appointed as the third judge after a previous split verdict, observed that the rule was vague, over-broad, and disproportionate. He accepted the major contentions raised by Kunal Kamra and others, who argued that the rule had a “chilling effect.” Thus, by a 2:1 ruling, the High Court deemed the April 2023 amendment to the intermediary guidelines under the Information Technology Act, which introduced the FCU, as “unconstitutional.”