4 weeks ago
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The Supreme Court connected Friday (May 8, 2026) sought a effect from the Union Government connected a petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) challenging an “illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional” bid to geo-block and suspend the Meta handles of the nationalist party’s Gujarat portion without giving immoderate anterior reasons, proceeding oregon notice.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued announcement to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the State of Gujarat connected the petition filed by the party, which said the determination was intended to “silence an Opposition enactment and is opposed to multi-party democracy”.
The AAP, represented by elder advocator Shadan Farasat, said the Gujarat unit’s Meta accounts @aapgujarat (on Instagram and Facebook) person functioned arsenic authoritative handles for governmental commentaries, dissemination of enactment policies and welfare-related information.
“They were utilized arsenic morganatic platforms for governmental code and antiauthoritarian engagement, which autumn squarely wrong the extortion of Article 19 of the Constitution. Any enactment that has the effect f silencing oregon disproportionately restricting the voices of Opposition parties strikes astatine the bosom of law ideology and is liable to beryllium scrutinised arsenic a usurpation of the basal operation doctrine,” the AAP said.
Mr. Farasat said a absorption to artifact an full account/page/group would magnitude to a anterior restraint connected escaped speech. He said the load was connected the Union Government and the State to warrant the anterior restraint.
The AAP said it was not informed of immoderate circumstantial contented alleged to beryllium objectionable oregon the statutory proviso which was relied upon for blocking the accounts, oregon the factual factors.
The blocking of the full Meta accounts without immoderate circumstantial content-based identification, is disproportionate, over-broad and manifestly beyond the scope of Article 19(2) and the powers nether Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. Even assuming, without admitting, that immoderate circumstantial contented could beryllium objectionable, the due and constitutionally permissible enactment would person been constricted to that content, not the full authoritative relationship of a nationalist governmental party. The action, therefore, fails the trial of proportionality,” the petition submitted.
AAP said the State machinery was consistently harassing its enactment workers, implicating them successful petty crimes, getting them arrested and preventing them from engaging successful bonafide election-related campaigning arsenic the section and State elections were drafting near.
