Apar GuptaIn what comes as welcome news to the entire internet community in India, Mr. P. Rajeeve, a CPI(M), MP from Kerala has filed a motion a motion for the annulment of the Intermediaries Guidelines. The text of the motion is quoted below:
STATUTORY MOTION
The following Motion given notice of by Shri P.Rajeeve, M.P. has been admitted in the following form:
“That this House resolves that the Information Technology (Intermediaries Guidelines) Rules, 2011 issued under clause (zg) of sub-section (2) of Section 87 read with sub-section (2) of Section 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 published in the Gazette of India dated the 13th April, 2011 vide Notification No. G.S.R 314(E) and laid on the Table of the House on the 12th August, 2011, be annuled; and
That this House recommends to Lok Sabha that Lok Sabha do concur on this Motion.”
Lets see what happens on this since at present its merely a motion. I am not quite sure of the legal procedure on this and will defer to my colleagues who know more about parliamentary procedure. However from a reading its quite clear, that the effect of the motion passing would be an annulment of the rules.
Though the annulment may not by itself improve protections for intermediaries as the Vinay Rai Case clearly shows you can drag intermediaries to courts without even referring to the IT Act, but I sense this can improve the general climate legal for intermediaries.
This motion represents hope for the tireless campaign carried out against inexorable legal processes where its easy to make bad law and difficult to remove it. Special props for this goes out to organisations such as CIS which has consistently highlighted the gross illegality of the rules and SFLC which has made a petition against the IT Rules and submitted it to our MP’s.