The High Court of Bombay, while noting that it was the essence of discourse in a democratic process that the government was as much a participant as a citizen, said that the government was not a repository of truth, which cannot be questioned.
The Bench of Justice G.S. Patel and Justice Neela Gokhale observed on Friday that the citizens had a fundamental right to doubt, question and demand answers from the government and it was the duty of the government to respond.
Acceding to the fact that one cannot bring a hammer to kill an ant, the Bench questioned the need to necessitate the amendment.
It further questioned the power of a government body to decide what was false and what was true.
The High Court passed the orders on a bunch of petitions filed by stand up comic Kunal Kamra, the Editors Guild of India, the Association of Indian Magazines, and the New Broadcast and Digital Association.
The petitioners had challenged amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023, which provided for formation of Fact Check Units (FCUs).