New Delhi: The Madras high court on Thursday (March 6) has passed an interim order directing the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to restore access to the entire website of Tamil media group Vikatan which was blocked over a satirical cartoon.
The website was blocked on February 15 over a cartoon related to the US-India deportation issue. The government had claimed that the cartoon threatened India’s sovereignty and foreign relations. However, high court Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy has directed that the website be restored, subject to the removal of the cartoon until the case is decided.
The court has ordered Vikatan to email the Union government, confirming removal of the objectionable pages. Once this is done, the website block shall be lifted without requiring a certified copy of the court’s order, Justice Chakravarthy mentioned, as per Bar and Bench.
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Following the high court’s order, Vikatan wrote in a statement on X, “The cartoon published on the cover of Vikatan Plus magazine (published on 10.02.2025) on 16.02.2025 is being removed as per the order of the Hon’ble Madras High Court on 06-03-2025 in case WP 7944 of 2025.”
“In this case, is the cartoon in question protected under the right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution, or under the provisions of the Union government’s IT Act? The case regarding whether it is a prohibition under Section 69A [of the IT Act] is currently under consideration by the Madras high court,” it added.
The case will continue on March 21, when the court will hear further arguments.
The cartoon, published on February 10, showed Prime Minister Narendra Modi sitting shackled next to US President Donald Trump.
