New Delhi [India], September 24 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Centre’s Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) to expeditiously decide an appeal filed by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) against the permanent disabling of its official Delhi Instagram account.
The direction came after counsel appearing for the Centre submitted before Justice Amit Mahajan that the appellate authority would be advised to expeditiously dispose of the appeal within four weeks.
The court was hearing a petition moved by SFI alleging delay in the disposal of its appeal before the GAC against Instagram’s decision to permanently disable its account, @SfiDelhi.
According to the petition, Instagram permanently disabled the account on July 5, 2026, informing SFI that it “may be associated with another account that has gone against our rules” and therefore did not comply with its Community Standards relating to account integrity.
SFI has alleged that Instagram did not identify the allegedly associated account or provide further details about the violation said to have resulted in the disabling of its account.
The account, which was created in 2018, had around 13,000 followers, according to the plea. The petition states that it was being used by SFI for disseminating information about its activities, student campaigns and issues.
The petitioners stated that they initially appealed against the disabling of the account on July 7 and subsequently approached Meta’s grievance officer on July 9. After allegedly receiving no response, they approached the GAC on August 12.
The plea claimed that the GAC website continued to show the appeal as “under process” as of September 16, despite more than 30 days having elapsed since the appeal was filed.
SFI relied upon Rule 3A(4) of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which provides that the GAC shall deal with appeals expeditiously and endeavour to resolve them finally within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the appeal.
The petition raised concerns over the delay in the appellate process and sought appropriate directions for the GAC to consider and decide the appeal in accordance with the statutory framework.
The plea also questioned the consequences of the permanent disabling of the account, contending that the petitioners were not provided sufficient details concerning the alleged violation forming the basis of Instagram’s action.
SFI further sought that the appellate process be conducted in conformity with the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(1)(a), 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution.
The petition also referred to previous proceedings before the Delhi High Court concerning blocking of social-media accounts and the functioning of the GAC, relying on them in support of its contention that the statutory appellate mechanism should provide an effective and timely remedy.
Following the submission on behalf of the Centre that the appellate authority would be advised to dispose of the matter within four weeks, the High Court asked the GAC to expeditiously consider the appeal.
The petition was filed by Students’ Federation of India and Sooraj Elamon through advocate Naman Kumar. SFI is a student organisation affiliated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). (ANI)
Delhi HC asks centre’s GAC to expeditiously decide SFI appeal against Instagram account blocking
