New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed Twitter to inform it by July 8 as to when it will appoint a resident grievance officer (RGO) in compliance with the new IT Rules after the microblogging platform submitted that it was in the process of doing so.
Justice Rekha Palli took exception to the fact that the court was not informed that the earlier appointment of the RGO was only on interim basis and he has already resigned.
The high court pointed out that only an interim RGO was appointed by Twitter and a wrong impression was given to the court on May 31.
"If he went away on June 21, the least Twitter could do was to appoint another officer in these 15 days since you knew that this matter was coming up for hearing on July 6. We are concerned with the issue of compliance. How long does your process take? If Twitter thinks it can take as long as it wants in my country, I will not allow that," the judge said.
Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, representing the Centre, said the rules were notified on February 25 and a three-month window was given to the intermediaries to comply with the rules, which has expired on May 25.
"We are on July 6. It is a 42-day complete non-compliance. They are most welcome to do business in India. But this attitude is to cock a snook at the digital sovereignty of this country," he argued.
To this, the judge said, "I have already told them they have to comply with the rules. I am not giving them any protection. If they are in defiance, you are free to take action. I have already made it clear if they want to work, they have to follow rules."
