The Internet Freedom Foundation is committed to defending and expanding fundamental rights as India gets more digitally connected. As part of this mandate, we strategically engage with courts, regulators, and other legal institutions across India. On this page, we list principles which guide our litigation advocacy and provide details of cases in which we have acted as parties, collaborators or our retained lawyers have acted in the capacity of counsel.
Our principles for strategic litigation
IFF’s litigation advocacy is guided by the following principles:
- Progressive constitutionalism: We are first and foremost believers in the Constitution of India. While the Constitution was drafted several decades before the invention of the internet, it is a progressive and visionary document. All technologies must respect the fundamental rights of citizens and further constitutional values of justice, equality, liberty and fraternity.
- Non-Partisanship: We represent all individuals and organizations to achieve systemic policy change regardless of ideological leanings or party politics.
- Collaboration: We recognize the value of adopting a collaborative approach because the harms arising from new technologies are often disproportionately borne by vulnerable and marginalized groups.
- Technological expertise: Our board of trustees and group of volunteers consist of several technologists and we also seek input from external experts with domain knowledge. This enables us to assist courts by shedding light on the technological feasibility of different alternatives which may be under consideration.
- Indigenously funded: IFF is wholly funded by Indian citizens and organizations. We do not accept foreign funding. None of the funding we gather is case specific and we take active steps to ensure transparency, prevent co-option and maintain independence. All funding received by IFF goes into our general corpus.
IFF's case docket
Currently, we are engaged in the following cases:
| Court | Case Title | IFF's Role | Issue | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Antony Clement Rubin v. Union of India [T.C. (C) No. 189 of 2020] | Intervenor | Anonymity, Encryption, Intermediary Liability | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Foundation for Media Professionals v. U.T. of Jammu & Kashmir [M.A. No. 1086 of 2020 in Diary No. 10817 of 2020] | Counsel | Internet Shutdowns | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Internet Freedom Foundation v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 44 of 2019] | Petitioner | Surveillance Reform | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Karmanya Singh Sareen v. Union of India [I.A. No. 4 of 2017 in S.L.P. (C) No. 804 of 2017] | Intervenor | WhatsApp Privacy Policy, Data Protection | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Private School Association J&K v. U.T. of Jammu & Kashmir [W.P. (C) No. 63 of 2021] | Counsel | Internet Shutdowns | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Journalist Union of Assam v. Union of India [W.P. (Crl.) No. 498 of 2021] | Counsel | Section 124A, IPC | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | SnT Hostings v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No.13997 of 2022] | Counsel | Innovation | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Apar v. CPIO, MHA & Ors [W.P. (C) No.5662 of 2022] | Petitioner | Surveillance | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Elsevier Ltd. & Ors vs Alexandra Elbakyan & Ors [I.A. No. 14908/2021 in CS(COMM) No. 572/2020] | Counsel | Website Blocking, Copyright, and Free Speech | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Saurav Das v. CPIO, NeGD & Ors. [W.P. (C) No. 10873 of 2020] | Counsel | Aarogya Setu, Transparency, RTI | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Tanul Thakur v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 13037 of 2019] | Counsel | Website Blocking | (link) |
| Kerala High Court | Jackson Mathew v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No.9882 of 2020 & W.P. (C) No.17439 of 2020] | Counsel | Aarogya Setu, Data Protection | (link) |
| Kerala High Court | LiveLaw Media & Ors. v. Union of India [W.P (C) No. 6272 of 2021] | Counsel | IT Rules 2021 | (link) |
| Kerala High Court | Indian Kanoon in XXX v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 21917 of 2020] | Counsel | Right to be Forgotten | (link) |
| Madras High Court | K Suthan v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 10180 of 2020] | Intervenor | OTT Regulation | (link) |
| Madras High Court | T.M. Krishna v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 12515 of 2021] | Counsel | IT Rules 2021 | (link) |
| Rajasthan High Court | Udaipur Chambers of Commerce and Industry & Anr. v. State of Rajasthan [D.B. Civil Writ (PIL) 5587/2022] | Counsel | Internet Shutdown | (link) |
| Telangana High Court | S.Q. Masood vs State of Telangana & Anr. [W.P. (PIL) No. 191 of 2021] | Counsel | Facial Recognition Technology | (link) |
| Bombay High Court | Sushant Singh vs Union of India & Ors. [W.P. (C) No. 1133 of 2022] | Counsel | Website Blocking |
Past litigation
We have previously been involved in the following matters:
| Court | Case Title | IFF’s Role | Issue | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Supreme Court | Foundation for Media Professionals v. Ajay Kumar Bhalla & Ors. [Contempt Petition (C) No. 411 of 2020] | Counsel | Internet Shutdowns | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Foundation for Media Professionals v. U.T. of Jammu & Kashmir [Diary No. 10817 of 2020] | Counsel | Internet Shutdowns | (link) |
| Supreme Court | Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India [I.A. No. 139555 of 2019 in W.P. (C) No. 1031 of 2019] | Counsel | Communication Shutdowns | (link) |
| Supreme Court | People’s Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India [M.A.No. 3220 of 2018 in W.P. (Crl.) No. 199 of 2013] | Counsel | Enforcement of Shreya Singhal v. Union of India | (link) |
| Supreme Court | People's Union For Civil Liberties v. Union of India [M.A. No. 901 of 2021] | Counsel | Section 66A, IT Act | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Apar v. CPIO, MHA & Ors [W.P. (C) No.12584 of 2021] | Petitioner | Surveillance | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Dr. Satendra Singh v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No.5959 of 2020] | Counsel | Digital Health ID Project, Public Consultation | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Subodh Gupta v. Herdsceneand [I.A. No. 15586 of 2019 in C.S. (OS) No. 483 of 2019] | Counsel | Defamation, Press Freedom | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Justice for Rights v. Union of India [C.M.A. No. 12759 of 2019 in W.P. (C) No. 11164 of 2018] | Applicant | Section 66A, IT Act | (link) |
| Delhi High Court | Laksh Vir Singh Yadav v. Union of India [W.P. (C) No. 1021 of 2016] | Intervenor | Right to be Forgotten | (link) |
| Calcutta High Court | Ashlesh Biradar vs State of West Bengal [W.P.A. (P) No. 104 of 2022] | Counsel | Internet Shutdown | (link) |
| Gujarat High Court | Internet Freedom Foundation v. State of Gujarat [W.P. (PIL) No. 11718 of 2019] | Petitioner | App Bans and Misuse of Section 144, CrPC | (link) |
| Court of Justice for European Union | Google LLC v. CNIL France [Case C‑507/17] | Intervenor | Global Content Removal | (link) |
Please note that our published material and correspondence does not constitute legal advice unless specifically stated as such by one of our legal counsel. If your digital rights have been violated and you require legal assistance, please write to us at [email protected]