Delhi High Court Directs Advocates To Approach Appellate Panel Under IT Rules Over WhatsApp Account Ban, Data Loss Grievance

The Delhi High Court has disposed of a batch of petitions concerning the banning of WhatsApp accounts, directing the petitioners to avail the statutory remedy under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that an efficacious grievance redressal mechanism is available under Rule 3A of the IT Rules, which provides for an appeal before the Grievance Appellate Committee.

The petitions were filed by practising advocates— Reepak Kansal, Dr. Adish C Aggarwala and Rohit Pandey, who challenged the banning of their WhatsApp accounts. During the hearing, WhatsApp informed the Court that the bans had already been lifted in all three cases in accordance with its policy guidelines.

However, the petitioners contended that while access to messaging services had been restored, the data previously stored in their accounts remained inaccessible, causing them significant hardship.

Taking note of the submissions, the Court said, “writ petitions may be correct in contending that their grievance has not been fully mitigated.”

However, it added that the grievance will have to be looked into by the Appellate Committee in accordance with the extant rules and regulations.

“Rule 3A of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code), Rules, 2021 ['Rules'], provides for grievance redressal mechanism by the Appellate Committee…If the petitioners' grievance still persists, the same will have to be redressed by the concerned Appellate Committee,” the Court observed.

Reliance was placed on Ravinder v. Union of India (2025) where a division bench of the High Court rejected the submissions that the mechanism prescribed under Rule 3A does not provide an efficacious remedy for addressing the grievance.

As such, the Court granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the Grievance Appellate Committee, which will take a decision within 30 days.

Appearance: Mr. Deepak Kansal, Mr. Ipsit Pallav, Mr. Hridyesh Singh, Ms. Geeta Rani, Mr. Adhyayan Gupta, Advs. for Petitioners; Adv P.S Singh CGSC, Adv Shivangi Sharma, Adv Mrityunjay Kumar Singh, Adv Rajneesh k Sharma, Advs. for R-1&2. Mr. Vivek Reddy, Senior Advocate with Ms. Swati Agarwal, Mr. Shashank Mishra, Ms. Shivika Mattoo, Ms. Rithika Mathur, Mr. Pival Peddireddi, Mr. Suvaroop Saha Roy, Advocates for R-3.

Case title: Reepak Kansal v. UoI

Case no.: W.P.(C) 11301/2025

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