Data Privacy & IT

In a significant ruling that reinforces the boundaries of privacy within matrimonial relationships, the Telangana High Court has held that secretly recording a spouse's phone conversations constitutes a violation of the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The decision, delivered by Justice Namavarapu Rajeshwar Rao and cited as 2026 LiveLaw (Tel) 104, declares such recordings inadmissible as evidence in divorce proceedings. This judgment

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA) requires every Significant Data Fiduciary (SDF) to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO). This guide explains who must appoint a DPO, the qualifications and responsibilities involved, and the step-by-step process for compliance under Section 10 of the Act. Who Must Appoint a DPO? Only organisations that have been officially notified as Significant Data Fiduciaries by the Central Government are required to appoint a DPO.

A Landmark Ruling on AI and Judicial Integrity On July 2, 2026, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment that sent shockwaves through the legal community. A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe set aside orders passed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) after discovering that both forums had relied on non-existent, AI-generated "hallucinated" judicial precedents while adju

The Supreme Court of India released Draft Regulations for Artificial Intelligence in Courts on June 3, 2026. Prepared by the Supreme Court's Artificial Intelligence Committee, the draft establishes a governance framework for how AI tools may be used within the Indian judicial system. The regulations apply to all Indian courts, including subordinate courts, district tribunals, and statutory adjudicatory bodies, making this one of the most comprehensive judicial AI governance f

In a landmark ruling on the use of artificial intelligence in courts, the Supreme Court has set aside orders of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) after finding that both forums relied on AI generated fake citations, that is, judicial precedents that simply do not exist. The decision came on July 2, 2026 in an appeal arising from insolvency proceedings, in the matter of Pooja Ramesh Singh versus Jammu and Kashmir B

The Delhi High Court on July 1, 2026 ordered the removal of five specific social media posts targeting Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, while refusing to grant a blanket injunction against all AI-generated deepfake content about him. Justice Subramonium Prasad held that the suit does not involve personality rights, drawing an important distinction between defamatory content that crosses into vulgarity and legitimate political satire that public figures must tolerate. The Dispute

On June 3, 2026, the Supreme Court of India released its Draft Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence in Courts, 2026, marking a landmark step in regulating how AI tools interact with the Indian judicial system. The draft, published for public consultation with a deadline of June 20, 2026, establishes a comprehensive framework built on five core principles: human primacy, transparency, accountability, data protection, and judicial independence. For lawyers, litigants,

The Delhi High Court, in orders issued in June 2026, directed social media intermediaries to remove, disable, and de-index false content alleging that the Chief Justice of India, approximately 75 judges, and Union Ministers travelled to London at taxpayers' expense for a badminton tournament. Justice Tejas Karia, hearing a petition filed by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) with intervention by the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, characterised the posts as part of a "s

The Bombay High Court, in an ex parte ad-interim order dated June 12, 2026, restrained the hacker group FulcrumSec from publishing, leaking, or disclosing sensitive personal data of school children. Justice Arif S Doctor, hearing Suit (L) No. 19692 of 2026 filed by Pratiksha Foundation Charitable Trust (referred to as XYZ Charitable Trust in anonymised filings), directed Google and other intermediaries to block the email identifiers used by the hackers. The case raises critic

The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2026, notified by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on February 10, 2026, and effective from February 20, 2026, introduced India's first comprehensive legal framework for addressing deepfakes and synthetically generated information (SGI). The Rules impose a three-hour takedown deadline on intermediaries for certain categories of harmful synthetic co

On June 9, 2026, the Delhi High Court upheld the Central Government's order under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, to temporarily block the messaging platform Telegram across India until June 22, 2026. The order also mandated that Telegram's message-editing feature remain disabled until June 30, 2026. This unprecedented step was taken to safeguard the integrity of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination, scheduled for June 21, 2026, after earlier allegations of pa

On June 16, 2026, the Bombay High Court passed a significant procedural order in a suit filed by actor Preity Zinta against Google LLC and Meta Platforms Inc. Justice Abhay Ahuja granted leave to sue under Clause XII of the Letters Patent, allowing the matter to proceed despite the respondents being incorporated outside the Court’s territorial jurisdiction. While procedural in nature, the underlying dispute raises pressing questions about personality rights, AI-generated deep

The Madras High Court has held that ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools cannot be equated with a qualified teacher, in a ruling that speaks directly to the growing use of AI in education. A Division Bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice N Senthilkumar made the observation while setting aside an order that had allowed a group of law students to sit their examinations despite a shortage of attendance. The judgment, reported in the neutral citation 2026:MHC:21

Is it legal to record a phone call in India? In most situations, if you are a participant in the conversation and you record it yourself, the recording is generally permissible. The law draws a sharp line between interception, where a third party secretly taps a line, and self-recording, where one party to the call presses record. Interception is tightly controlled, while a participant recording the call is largely treated under a one-party consent understanding, subject to p

Telegram has moved the Delhi High Court challenging the Central Government’s decision to temporarily restrict access to the messaging platform across India until June 22, 2026. The ban, issued under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, was prompted by concerns over organised paper-leak rackets operating on Telegram ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination scheduled for June 21. With over 150 million Indian users affected by the blanket restriction, the case ra

The Delhi High Court has issued notice to the Union Government on a plea by the messaging platform Telegram challenging the temporary restriction placed on its access in India ahead of the NEET-UG 2026 re-examination. The dispute sits at the intersection of internet blocking powers under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, 2000, examination integrity, and the procedural safeguards that must accompany any order restricting access to an online platform. It has quickl

In a ruling with major consequences for telecom companies and bank customers, the Karnataka High Court has held that telecom service providers who enable SIM swap fraud through negligent issuance of duplicate SIM cards bear full civil liability for the resulting financial losses. Justice Suraj Govindaraj ordered BSNL to pay a cooperative bank Rs 50.5 lakh in compensation along with an additional Rs 5 lakh in damages. The case, Sri Basaveshwara Pattana Sahakara Bank Niyamitha

Digital arrest scams have become one of the most damaging forms of cyber fraud in India, and the Supreme Court has now stepped in with a series of directions aimed at protecting victims and fixing institutional accountability. Hearing a suo motu matter, a bench led by the Chief Justice of India described these frauds in strong terms and pressed the Union government, the Reserve Bank of India and other regulators to build a coordinated response. The case has put a spotlight on

The Supreme Court of India has published a draft regulatory framework titled the Regulations for Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Courts, 2026, marking the first comprehensive attempt to govern how artificial intelligence may be used across the Indian judicial system. The draft AI regulations, released on June 3, 2026, have been prepared under the supervision of the Supreme Court's AI Committee, and the Court has invited comments from lawyers, technologists, and members

The Government of India's Ministry of Finance, on May 14, 2026, approved the proposed acquisition by Dubai-based Emirates NBD Bank of up to 74 percent of RBL Bank's total paid-up equity share capital. Valued at approximately USD 3 billion (around Rs 26,850 crore), this transaction represents the largest foreign direct investment in the history of India's banking sector and the first acquisition of a majority stake in a profitable Indian bank by a foreign banking institution.