In a new turn of events surrounding the controversial IT Rules, 2021, the Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the Central Government following a plea by WhatsApp, challenging the “traceability clause” under the IT Rules. WhatsApp contents that the traceability feature might force them to break the end-to-end encryption to reveal the first originator of any message, thereby undermining the very purpose of the privacy feature. They also argued before the court that this could potentially place dissenters and individuals/journalists who investigate controversial matters in serious peril. The social media platform further stated that this traceability might deter dissent and stated that the law is certainly in violation of the Right to Privacy enshrined under Article 21 via the iconic judgement of KS Puttuswamy v. Union of India. Violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, and Ss. 79 and 69A of the IT Act was also alleged. Following the same, the Delhi HC Division Bench has issued a notice to the Union Government.
