Supreme Court Junks PIL Seeking Ban On WhatsApp

The Supreme Court refused to direct Centre to ban the messaging application WhatsApp for its refusal to comply with the new Information Technology Rules (IT Rules) in India.

In June 2021, the Kerala High Court rejected the PIL terming it "premature."

Source : Pixabay

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking directions to the Centre to ban the messaging application WhatsApp for its refusal to comply with the new Information Technology Rules (IT Rules) in India.

A bench of Justices MM Sundreshand Aravind Kumar today dismissed the PIL seeking a ban on WhatsApp.

The PIL was moved by Omanakuttan KG against WhatsApp. He moved the top court after the Kerala High Court dismissed the petition seeking directions to the Centre to ban WhatsApp if it refuses to comply with the government orders.

The PlL was first filed in the Kerala HC by Omanakuttan KG after WhatsApp had moved a Delhi High Court challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021(IT rules).

The Kerala HC was informed by the petitioner that WhatsApp had claimed before the Delhi High Court that it is not amenable to IT Rules, 2021 because the end-to-end encryption of the App prevents it from tracing origins of messages. The petitioner had further flagged the lack of security of the App calling it contending that the app is filled with anti-social elements who spread fake news and images.

The petitioner had challenged this claim by WhatsApp, citing the company's privacy policy which he claimed said that it will store messages sent by users in certain circumstances and it also has access to their contacts and other information.

In June 2021, the Kerala High Court rejected the PIL terming it "premature."

It was highlighted that the reliance placed on messaging services such as WhatsApp for serving court summons and legal notices is also at stake as the authenticity of such messages cannot be guaranteed.