Madhya Pradesh High Court
Parth Sharma vs The Union Of India Through Ministry Of ... on 6 May, 2026
Author: Vijay Kumar Shukla
Bench: Vijay Kumar Shukla
1 WP-10289-2026
IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
AT INDORE
WP No. 10289 of 2026
(PARTH SHARMA Vs THE UNION OF INDIA THROUGH MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY AND OTHERS )
Dated : 06-05-2026
Shri Parth Sharma, petitioner in person.
Shri Sunil Kumar Jain learned Senior counsel with Shri Romesh Dave,
learned counsel for the respondent no.1.
Shri Kapil Sibal, learned Senior counsel Shri Vivek Reddy, learned Senior counsel through VC for the respondent.
Shri Shantanu Sharma, learned counsel for the respondent no.2.
Respondent no.2 has made his appearance before this Court without there being any notice.
We passed the order on 09.04.2026 after hearing the petitioner and the counsel for the respondent no.1.
The order dated 09.04.2026 reads as under:-
The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India is filed, being aggrieved by the information published vide Annexure-P/1, where it is mentioned the following:-
"End-to-end encrypted messaging on Instagram will no longer be supported after May 8, 2026.
If you have chats that are impacted by this change, you will see instructions on how you can download any media or messages you may want to keep.
If you're on an older version of Instagram, you may also need to update the app before you can download your affected chats.
End-to-end encrypted messages and calls ensure only you and the people you're communicating with can see or listen to what is sent, and no one else, not even Meta, can do so. Keep in mind, for reporting and optional features, you or someone in the chat may still choose to share messages with Meta."
The petitioner argued that the aforesaid message/communication, which permits access to the end to end encrypted messages, is in violation of the Signature Not Verified Signed by: SOURABH YADAV Signing time: 06-05-2026 18:30:08 2 WP-10289-2026 right to privacy of the citizens of India, which is guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, which has been discussed by the Apex Court in the case of Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) & Another Vs. Union of India, [(2017) 10 SCC 1]. It is submitted that the aforesaid information shall come into effect from 08.05.2026.
Per contra, Senior Counsel for the respondent No.1 argued that the present petition does not fall within the scope of public interest litigation. He further submitted that the petition has been filed without approaching the statutory board, which is constituted under the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 (in short "the Act of 2023"). He has brought our attention to the provisions of Section 18 of the Act of 2023, in which the Board is constituted and its functions are mentioned in Section27 of said Act.
Considering the aforesaid submissions of Senior Counsel for the respondent No. 1, without adverting to the other contentions of the petitioner, we direct the petitioner to approach the Board constituted under Section 18of the Act of 2023, within a period of 07 days from today. If such representation is filed, the Board shall take a decision, in accordance withlaw by passing a reasoned and speaking order, after affording opportunity ofhearing to the petitioner within the next 15 days before 06.05.2026. The decision of the Board be filed by the petitioner before this Court.
List the matter on 06.05.2026."
Learned counsel for the respondent no.1 informed that at present the Board is not functional as appointments are under process and therefore, in compliance to the said order, the representation of the petitioner could not be decided.
The petitioner apprehends that his personal data may be leaked or may be made available to the third person, which would violate his right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Learned counsel for the respondent no.2 submitted that as per the privacy policy of the Instagram, no personal data would be made available to any third person except data would be made available in accordance with law to the government agencies.
Learned counsel for the respondents are granted six weeks time to file reply.
Signature Not Verified Signed by: SOURABH YADAV Signing time: 06-05-2026 18:30:083 WP-10289-2026 List the matter in the week commencing 13.07.2026.
(VIJAY KUMAR SHUKLA) (ALOK AWASTHI)
JUDGE JUDGE
Sourabh
Signature Not Verified
Signed by: SOURABH
YADAV
Signing time: 06-05-2026
18:30:08