Making it clear that Twitter cannot be permitted to take as much time as it wants to appoint a Resident Grievance Officer, as mandated in the new IT Rules, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday gave two days to the microblogging site to inform it about its stand on compliance of the IT law.
The Bench of Justice Rekha Palli took objection to the fact that despite assurances on the last date of hearing, a Grievance Officer was not appointed.
Appearing for Twitter India, Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya conceded that the social media giant was presently not in compliance with the IT Rules, 2021 as it did not have a Resident Grievance Officer. He stated that an interim Grievance Officer was appointed, but was removed on June 21.
“After 21 June, till July 6, the least you could have done was appointing another person. How long does your process take? If Twitter thinks it can take as long it wants in our country, I will not allow that,” the Court said.
Poovayya then sought time to seek instructions on when the new appointment would be made. The Court directed the counsel to reply back soon. Later, the counsel sought more time to obtain detailed instructions from San Francisco-based Twitter.
“Come up with a clear response, otherwise you will be in trouble,” the Court said and granted two days’ time.