The Supreme Court has stayed proceedings pending before various High Courts challenging the Union government’s Sahyog portal and the legal framework governing online content takedown requests, while agreeing to examine whether the constitutional issues raised in the cases should be heard by the apex court itself.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued notice on the Centre’s transfer petitions seeking to consolidate the pending matters before the Supreme Court. Accepting the Union’s request for interim relief, the Bench directed that further proceedings in the related cases before the Karnataka and Bombay High Courts, as well as connected petitions, shall remain stayed until further orders.
The Centre has sought transfer of the petitions on the ground that they involve common constitutional questions concerning the validity of the Sahyog portal and the interpretation of Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, which deals with the obligations of intermediaries to remove unlawful online content upon receiving notice from the government or its authorised agencies. It argued that a uniform pronouncement by the Supreme Court would avoid conflicting decisions by different High Courts.
The pending challenges have been instituted by several petitioners, including X Corp., the DigiPub News India Foundation and comedian Kunal Kamra. They have questioned the legality of the Sahyog portal, contending that it enables authorities to issue content-removal directions outside the statutory procedure prescribed under the Information Technology Act and without the procedural safeguards recognised by judicial precedents.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union Government, urged the Court to halt proceedings before the High Courts until the transfer petitions are decided. The Bench accepted the submission and granted an interim stay on all pending proceedings involving the same issues.
The Supreme Court has listed the transfer petitions for further consideration on August 10, when it is expected to decide whether the constitutional validity of the Sahyog portal and the scope of Section 79(3)(b) should be examined directly by the apex court.
The Sahyog portal, developed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, facilitates the transmission of requests to online intermediaries for the removal of content considered unlawful. Its operation and legal basis have been the subject of multiple challenges, with petitioners alleging that the mechanism bypasses the statutory safeguards governing online content blocking. The Union, however, maintains that the portal merely streamlines the process for communicating lawful takedown requests and does not create any new substantive power.
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