Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the state govt to produce before it the orders and records based on which content posted by former chief parliamentary secretary (CPS) Neeraj Bharti and Mandi resident Baldev Kumar alias Bunty Sirazi was removed from social media.A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Bhupesh Sharma passed the directions while hearing a petition filed by Bharti, son of incumbent agriculture minister Chander Kumar, and Baldev Kumar challenging the alleged takedown of their social media content by the state govt.The court directed the state govt, to produce the takedown intimations issued to Meta Platforms Inc, the intermediary operating Facebook and Instagram, regarding the petitioners’ content.The state govt has also been asked to place on record the written order authorising the officer who issued the takedown direction, along with his name, designation and rank.The bench further sought details of the statutory provision invoked, the alleged unlawful act, exact links to the content complained of and records of the periodic review prescribed under Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.The court made it clear that if no reply is filed before the next hearing, the application would be considered based on the material already on record.The court has issued notices to the central govt, Meta Platforms Inc and the state govt, directing them to file their responses by Nov 2.After Bharti, the former Congress MLA from Jawali in Kangra district, had been critical of the state govt on various issues, the District Congress Committee, Kangra, expelled him from the party’s primary membership for six years on June 6.The party reasoned that Bharti was expelled for anti-party activities and conduct against organisational discipline and party interests.
