The Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to clarify if X Corp. must mandatorily join the Sahyog portal for cases involving trafficking and national security. The government must file its reply by September 10, 2025.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has asked the Central Government to give a clear reply on whether social media platform X Corp. (earlier known as Twitter) should be made a compulsory part of the government’s Sahyog portal in cases connected with human trafficking, child trafficking, drug trafficking, and issues of national security.
On August 12, a division bench of Justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma directed the Union of India to file its reply by September 10, 2025.
The bench said,
“Let the Union of India file its reply to the present application, addressing the specific issue i.e. as to whether in cases involving human trafficking, child trafficking and serious matters such as drug trafficking and national security-related issues are concerned, the applicant X Corp. ought to be unexceptionally part of the SAHYOG portal. Let the reply be filed by September 10, 2025.”
The matter came up while hearing a habeas corpus petition filed by a woman seeking the production of her 19-year-old son, who has been missing since January 10, 2024.
While looking into several similar habeas corpus petitions, the court observed that there was a delay between the time police sought information and the time they actually received it from different social media platforms.
The court explained that the application filed by X Corp. is being looked at specifically in the context of a missing child case.
It clarified that the cooperation of intermediaries like X Corp. and their role in joining the Sahyog portal is being considered from this perspective only.
X Corp., however, has filed an application to be discharged from the proceedings, arguing that it has been cooperating with authorities. The company also informed the court that it has already challenged the entire Sahyog portal system before the Karnataka High Court, where the judgment is reserved.
The Delhi High Court noted that since no order has yet been passed by the Karnataka High Court, there is no bar on hearing X Corp.’s plea.
Earlier, the bench recorded that
“the challenge by X Corp. to the entire concept of the Sahyog portal and that its coming on board the portal is pending before the Karnataka High Court. However, the judgment is stated to be reserved.”
The Sahyog portal was developed by the government to simplify and automate the process of sending notices to intermediaries under the Information Technology Act. Through this system, government agencies can quickly send requests to remove or block unlawful online content.
The aim is to bring together all authorized agencies and online platforms on one platform so that action can be taken immediately on illegal online activities.
Appearing for the Centre, government counsel highlighted that while X Corp. has gone to the Karnataka High Court, many other companies have already joined the system.
He pointed out that 64 intermediaries are already on the Sahyog portal, and the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued requests to the rest. The counsel strongly urged that all remaining intermediaries should be directed to join the portal quickly.
In its status report, the Centre also told the court that more than 1,100 entities are now part of the API integrated system. These include internet service providers, and major platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and Microsoft.
The government added that the portal system is presently in the testing and production stage and that all states and Union Territories have already appointed nodal officers to coordinate with the portal.
The status report further mentioned that 33 “Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers” have also joined the portal.
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