Chennai, June 10(BPNS)

Renowned Carnatic Musician and a vocal critic of the Narendra Modi government, TM Krishna moved the Madras High court on Thursday against the new Information Technology rules of the Union government.

In the petition he stated that the Information Technology (Guidelines for Intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules) 2021 is imposing, “Arbitrary, vague and unreasonable” restrictions.

The Madras high court first bench comprising of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy after admitting the plea directed the Additional Solicitor General, R Sankaranarayanan to file a report within three weeks.

TM Krishna in his plea said that the new IT rules violate the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and privacy and are unconstitutional.

In his plea, Krishna said, “ As far as I am concerned, privacy like the music itself is an experience. When I think of privacy,I think of life, intimacy, experience, discovery, security, happiness, the lack of fear, and freedom to create. I think of liberty, dignity, and choice as facets inherent in me and not just as an artist but as a human being.”

He further said “As  a person interested in exploring the boundaries of Carnatic music and taking the art form beyond its existing narrow social confines the endeavor of my art is to ask difficult questions. My apprehension is that the work I produce in trying to reshape art will fall foul of the Code of Ethics contained in the impugned rules.”

The council of the petitioner Suhrith Parthasarathy during the hearing on Thursday submitted that the right to privacy was implicit in the guarantee of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the constitution.