Kerala HC restrains Centre from taking action against NBA under IT Rules

Kerala High Court restrained the Central Government from taking any coercive action against the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) under new IT Rules.

Kerala High Court restrained the Central Government from taking any coercive action against the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) under new IT Rules. The court passed this interim order on NBA's plea challenging the new IT rules on the ground that they give government authorities excessive powers to unreasonably and impermissibly restrict the freedom of speech and expression of the media.

The bench of Justice PB Suresh Kumar stated that "the respondents shall not to take any coercive action against the petitioners for non-compliance of the provisions contained in the Rules." The petition has challenged the new rules as the Information Technology Act, 2000 does not contain any provision for dealing with the content of any programme and therefore, the rules are ultra vires the parent Act. (ANI)