Kunal Kamra, in the petition, claimed that the portal could be misused for muzzling content online and the new rules could enable government to take down content without adequate safeguards

Mumbai: Bombay High Court on Thursday gave time till July 29 to the Central government to file its affidavit in response to a petition filed by stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, where he challenged the constitutional validity of Sahyog Portal citing “sweeping powers” for authorities to take down online content with no prior notice and no checks for “bias”.Kamra also challenged as unconstitutional an amendment to the Information Technology (IT) Rules that requires social media intermediaries to remove any objectionable content within 36 hours.Kamra’s senior counsel Navroz Seervai mentioned the petition on Thursday before a division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra Ghuge and Justice Gautam Ankhad, questioning the lack of any reply from the Centre till date despite earlier directions by the court after the petition was filed in February. He said the legal issues raised are significant.Kamra, in the petition, claimed that the portal could be misused for muzzling content online and new rules could enable the government to take down content without adequate safeguards.Seeking time, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, for the Centre, said the affidavit would be filed by July 29.Mumbai-based senior advocate Haresh Jagtiani had also separately filed a petition to challenge the constitutionality of Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Amendment Rules, 2023), as amended in October 2025, and Sahyog Portal on the ground of empowering government with a “unilateral takedown” ability.