Musician T.M. Krishna moves Madras High Court challenging IT Rules, 2021

Lekha G

The Madras High Court has issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition filed by Carnatic musician T.M. Krishna challenging the constitutional validity of Information Technology Rules, 2021.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy directed the Union Government to file a counter-affidavit within 3 weeks.

In the affidavit, Mr. Krishna said, “For me, privacy, like music itself, is an experience. When I think of privacy, I think of life, intimacy, experience, discovery, security, happiness, the lack of fear and the freedom to create. I think of liberty, dignity and choice as facets inherent in me and not just as an artist but as a human being.”

It was further said that the rules affected his rights as an artist and a cultural commentator by imposing a chilling effect on free speech and infringing on his right to privacy. He said the Part II and III of the Rules violated his right as a user of social media services and breached his right as an online content creator respectively.

Mr. Krishna’s petition in the Madras High Court makes it the fourth High Court in the country to consider validity of the new IT Rules after Delhi, Kerala and Karnataka.

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