Read IT Rules And Come Fully Prepared, Supreme Court Tells Petitioner; Know The Matter
New Delhi, 12th July 2021: The Supreme Court on Monday deferred by a week the hearing on a petition seeking action on the spread of hate and Islamophobia messages on internet media, asking the petitioner to come fully prepared after reading the new IT rules and then the matter will be heard. The remarks were made by a bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana while postponing the hearing of the matter.
The court asked the petitioner lawyer Khwaja Aijazuddin, who was arguing the petition himself, whether he had read the new IT rules. This is what you are asking for. The lawyer said that the new IT rules do not cover this thing which he is seeking. Nothing has been said about religion in the new IT rule.
Justice Ramana asked to show the IT rule where it is. The lawyer said that he has not put the new IT rule in the file. The next question of the court was whether “you had gone to the government regarding your demand”. The lawyer said no.
On this, the bench said that then why should the court hear your petition. Anyway, in the case of Tablighi Jamaat, a petition is already pending in the Supreme Court, so why should this new petition be heard.
The lawyer said that there is an issue of media reporting about Tablighi Jamaat in that pending case, while his petition is different from that. The lawyer urged the court that notice be issued on his petition and it should also be attached for hearing along with the petition filed in the case of Tablighi Jamaat. But the bench did not agree to this. The court said that “you will come with full preparation by doing homework and reading the IT rules”. Along with this, the court adjourned the hearing of the petition for a week.
In this petition, the issue of blaming Tablighi Jamaat behind the corona spread in Delhi last year has been raised. There has been a demand to stop the spread of hate and Islamophobia messages on internet media and take action.
This is not the first time when the court has asked a petitioner to come fully prepared. Even before this, in many cases, the court has given such advice to those who filed the petition with half-incomplete information and preparation.
