The Delhi high court on May 24 sought the Centre’s stand on a PIL by actor-filmmaker Amol Palekar, which says that the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, governing OTT platforms, violate artistic freedom as they grant powers to the government to act as a “super censor”.
The PIL challenges the constitutional validity of the Rules and argues that they run against the IT Act. A bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet P.S. Arora issued notice to the Centre on the petition and listed it for hearing in August. Palekar was represented by senior advocate Nitya Ramakrishnan. In his plea, he said, the rules give unfettered power to the government to not only regulate but also block any content.
