The Petitioner, a Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) company, based in Brighton, United Kingdom approached the Hon’ble Delhi High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, challenging the blocking of its app named ‘Briar’ under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000. The blocking order came with blocking 14 apps, including that of the Petitioner. The challenged was filed alleging the violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, where the Petitioner contended that the government failed to follow the procedure of supplying the blocking order and information to the Petitioner under Rule 8 and 9 of the Blocking Rules, 2009. The petition sought to obtain the impugned order blocking ‘Briar’ to identify the reasons for blocking, quashing the same and directing the Center to take all necessary action to restore the functioning of the application.
