Mumbai: The Centre will file its response to a petition filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, challenging the constitutional validity of the government’s Sahyog portal and the amended Information Technology (IT) Rules, by July 29, it has informed the Bombay High Court.
In his petition, Kamra has claimed that the portal and amended rules give authorities sweeping powers to order the takedown of online content.
After additional solicitor general Anil Singh, appearing for the Union government, assured the court that the affidavit would be filed by July 29, the bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad directed Kamra to file his rejoinder by August 6 and posted the matter for further hearing on August 14, as reported by Hindustan Times.
Senior advocate Navroz Seervai, appearing for Kamra, told the court that the petition had been pending since February and despite repeated directions, the Centre had not yet filed its affidavit.
The Sahyog portal, developed by the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and launched in 2024, is an online platform designed to streamline and automate the process through which authorised central and state government agencies send notices to social media companies and other online intermediaries to remove or block content alleged to be unlawful.
The portal brings authorised agencies and intermediaries onto a single platform to enable faster action against illegal online content, the government says.
The stand-up comedian, however, has challenged both the portal and the IT Rules amended in October 2025, arguing that they unlawfully empower central and state government officials to issue takedown and blocking orders without following the procedure prescribed under the Information Technology Act.
Rule 3 of the IT Rules and the Sahyog portal are “ex facie unconstitutional” as they allow online content to be blocked or removed on vague grounds and without adequate procedural safeguards, his petition says.
It argues that the mechanism enables blocking of content without prior notice to the person who posted it, a hearing, or a reasoned order, violating principles of natural justice.
These provisions impose an “unconstitutional and unreasonable” restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of speech under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, Kamra has argued.
The new framework goes beyond the constitutionally permissible restrictions under Article 19 and makes all online content vulnerable to arbitrary takedowns without providing any effective remedy against such action, the petition further states.
The portal effectively gives thousands of officers of the Centre and state governments unchecked powers to direct the removal of online content, Kamra has contended, seeking suspension of the Sahyog portal’s operation pending the outcome of the case.
