Earlier, China had expressed deep concern about the ban. (Representative)
New Delhi:
The Center has asked the Rajasthan High Court to arrest one of the Chinese companies whose 59 applications it recently prohibited from obtaining an order to block the order, two sources said.
Last month, the government banned dozens of Chinese apps, including ByteDance’s popular video sharing app, TikTok, Alibaba’s UC browser, and Tencent WeChat’s messaging app, claiming they were a “threat to sovereignty and integrity”.
Two sources directly aware of the matter said the government had allegedly warned the High Court of Rajasthan, suggesting that it expects one or more of the companies to challenge the ministry’s ban. ‘Electronics and Information Technology.
Such warnings are generally filed to prevent a decision in favor of companies without hearing the government, lawyers said. The file, which was presented Friday by one of the sources, has not been previously reported.
“Let nothing be done until the applicants (the government) have been heard,” said court files signed by additional solicitor general Rajdeepak Rastogi.
KEEP THE CYBER SPACE
The order to ban the apps was adopted to protect “the interests of Indian mobile and Internet users and to guarantee the security and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace,” said the file, which was viewed by Reuters.
It was not immediately clear why the government went to the Rajasthan court and whether there were plans to file similar petitions elsewhere.
The IT ministry and the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier, China had expressed deep concern over the ban, which could hurt expansion plans and cost jobs, and said it could violate World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
None of the Chinese companies have yet raised a court challenge, industry sources saying they are awaiting further clarification from the government.
The IT department recently asked companies associated with the 59 applications to respond to a detailed questionnaire within three weeks about their business structure and data storage practices, industry sources told Reuters.
The decision to ban the apps rocked companies like ByteDance, which counted on India as a major growth market for TikTok and planned to invest $ 1 billion in the country.
