Supreme Court stays Sahyog Portal challenges

The India — Supreme Court of India has stayed proceedings before the Karnataka and India — Bombay High Courts in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre's Sahyog Portal and the legal framework governing online content takedown under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. The petitions challenge the legality of the Sahyog Portal and question the Central government's power to direct intermediaries to remove or disable online content under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, read with Rule 3(1)(d) of the IT Rules. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. K. Mohanan issued notice on the Centre's transfer petitions on July 22, returnable on August 10, and directed that all further proceedings before the High Courts remain stayed. The Centre sought transfer of all four cases to the Supreme Court to enable consolidated adjudication and avoid conflicting rulings. The cases include petitions by X Corp and DigiPub News India Foundation before the India — Karnataka High Court, and by Kunal Kamra and Haresh Jagtiani before the India — Bombay High Court. Petitioners argue that the Sahyog Portal enables content blocking without prior notice, violating natural justice and free speech. The Supreme Court's intervention puts the high court challenges on hold while it considers the Centre's request to consolidate the cases.