The Bombay High Court has ruled that the Central Government's Fact Check Unit rule is unconstitutional, citing its vagueness and potential chilling effect on free speech. The decision follows a split verdict in a previous hearing and may lead to a Supreme Court challenge.

The Union Electronics and IT Ministry had notified the FCU on March 20, as a statutory body under the Press Information Bureau with powers to flag what it believes is false information related to the central government and its agencies on social media sites.

Mumbai: A single-judge bench of the Bombay High Court on Friday set aside the IT Amendment Rules, 2023, which allows the central government to form fact-check units. Justice A.S. Chandurkar's order breaks the tie of the split verdict given earlier by a two-judge bench of the high court regarding the validity of the IT Amendment Rules 2023.

The case was referred to the third judge after a division bench of justice Gautam Patel and justice Neela Gokhale delivered a split verdict on January 31.

The Bombay High Court has declared the amended IT Rules, which aimed to identify fake content against the government on social media, unconstitutional. Justice A S Chandurkar ruled that the rules violated constitutional rights and were vague.

Bombay High Court on Friday struck down the amendments to Information Technology (IT) Rules allowing the Central government to establish Fact-Check Units.

The Bombay High Court declared the IT Rules on the Fact Check Unit illegal, citing violations of fundamental rights and disproportionate censorship. This ruling follows a split verdict in January and supports free expression online against government-backed content regulation.