The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea against the blocking of open-source messaging application “Briar” by the Union Government in Jammu and Kashmir over threat to national security and sovereignty. Justice Subramonium Prasad rejected the plea moved by Sublime Software Limited which developed the app challenging the Union Government’s blocking order. The plea also sought a direction on Central Government to produce and publish the blocking order passed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
It was the developer entity’s case that the blocking order was passed without following the procedure given in the Blocking Rules and that it was unable to access the software throughout the country because of the blocking. On the other hand, the Union Government contended that 14 mobile messaging applications, including Briar, were blocked in the region of Jammu Kashmir under Section 69A of the IT Act as they contained material that was prejudicial to the Sovereignty and Integrity of India, Defence of India, Security of the State and Public Order. It was also submitted that since the petitioner entity does not have any representative in India, it could not be informed about the blocking and that the blocking order cannot be shared as strict confidentiality has to be maintained regarding all the requests and complaints received and actions taken concerning blocking.
While rejecting the plea, the court took judicial notice of the fact that decisions taken at the highest level and for the benefit of the security & sovereignty of the country can be kept confidential. “The blocking orders have been passed for 14 applications/softwares, including the software/application of the Petitioner herein as it was being used by the Terrorists and their supporters to disturb the security and sovereignty of the country,” the court said. It added that Briar application was blocked only in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the same can be used in all other parts of the country. “In view of the above, this Court is not inclined to entertain the present Writ Petition. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is dismissed along with the pending applications, if any,” the court said.
