The Karnataka High Court has sought the Union government's reply to X Corp's appeal against a single judge's decision upholding the Centre's authority to issue content blocking directions through the Sahyog portal.
A bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha directed the Union government to file its reply within four weeks.
X Corp had argued that officers of the central government do not have independent statutory power to issue blocking orders under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act.
The single judge had rejected this contention and dismissed X Corp's plea, holding that the government's use of the Sahyog portal was legally valid and consistent with the scheme of the IT Act.
X Corp has maintained that the government's actual legal power to order blocking or takedowns comes from section 69A of the IT Act which allows taking down or blocking of online content, but also provides safeguards such as written orders, fair hearings etc. for the intermediaries.
The high court will examine the matter after the union government files its response.
