New Delhi, Sept 1: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought responses from the Centre and Meta Platforms on a petition filed by National Conference Lok Sabha MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi challenging the suspension of his Facebook page.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notices to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook. The matter has been listed for further hearing on September 30.
The court, however, declined to grant interim relief to Mehdi at this stage, observing that no order would be passed without hearing the other side.
During the hearing, Meta’s counsel told the court that the MP’s Facebook page had been taken down following a notice issued by a law enforcement agency and sought time to place relevant documents on record.
Mehdi, who is also a religious leader, has claimed that his Facebook page, titled “Ruhullah Mehdi”, is an important platform for sharing information, interacting with constituents and participating in public and democratic discourse.
According to the petition, Meta restricted access to the page in March pursuant to a notice issued under the Information Technology Act.
The petitioners alleged that Meta suspended the page without giving Mehdi an opportunity to be heard or providing detailed reasons for the action. They also claimed that a representation made to Meta’s grievance redressal officer received no response.
The plea argued that while the law permits removal or blocking of specific unlawful content subject to due process, it does not authorise a blanket restriction on an entire account or page without identifying the alleged offending material.
It further contended that the continued suspension has affected Mehdi’s ability to discharge his public responsibilities, communicate with constituents and participate in democratic processes.
