New Delhi, Oct 28 The Delhi High Court has sought the stand of the Centre and Meta Platforms on a plea against withholding of the Instagram handle ‘Bring Back Ballot’, which published content advocating the use of paper ballots for elections.
On October 27, Justice Amit Mahajan issued notice on the petition by the account operator, organisation Mission Save Constitution, and its founder lawyer Mehmood Pracha, and listed the case for hearing on November 6.
The petition said that on the day the organisation proposed to hold a peaceful protest, called “Bring Back Ballot - EVM Hatao Desh Bachao”, at Jantar Mantar, it discovered that its ‘Bring Back Ballot’ handle was not available in India.
The petition alleged that withholding the entire account with over 50,000 followers was disproportionate, unreasoned and without any notice.
“The handle advocated, peacefully and lawfully, a return to paper ballots in Indian elections under the slogan “EVM Hatao Desh Bachao”, and mobilised citizens for the peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi on 10.10.2026, of which prior intimation had been given to the Delhi Police on 10.09.2026,” the plea said.
“On 10.10.2026, the very day of the Petitioners’ peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar, the Handle began displaying the message: ‘Account not available in India. This is because we complied with a legal request to restrict this content’,” it added.
The petition asserted that the blocking was in violation of Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(b), 19(1)(c) and 21 of the Constitution as well as the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules.
The notice displayed by Instagram, the petition added, does not disclose any order, the issuing authority or the content objected to, and afforded it no means to contest the decision.
The petitioner said it works toward promoting constitutional values, democratic participation and the integrity of the electoral process.
The plea informed that the Instagram handle was launched in September pursuant to the organization’s “Bring Back Ballot” initiative.
(PTI News)
