New Delhi: The Karnataka high court has dismissed the petition filed by Twitter challenging blocking orders issued to it by the Union government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act and imposed Rs 50 lakh as costs over its ‘conduct’.A single judge bench of Justice Krishna S. Dixit, according to LiveLaw, cited the fact that Twitter did not comply with the government’s blocking orders in spite of having been given notices. “Punishment for non-compliance is seven years imprisonment and unlimited fine. That also did not deter your client,” he said.The judge said Twitter had delayed compliance for a year and then suddenly approached the court. “You are not a farmer but a billon dollar company,” Justice Dixit said.The judge framed eight issues ranging from locus standi to reasons behind the blocking orders issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeiTY).LiveLaw has reported that the bench also refused to issue guidelines to the Union government, as sought by Twitter over the exercise of its powers under Section 69A.Indian Express reported that the court also said that Twitter as a foreign company could not claim the rights of freedom of expression and personal liberty guaranteed to citizens of India under Articles 19 and 21 of the constitution of India.The full details of this order have not been released yet.In June, 2022, MeiTY had sent Twitter a letter warning it of consequences of non-compliance with blocking orders, including of initiating criminal proceedings against Twitter’s Chief Compliance Officer.Twitter’s tussles with the Narendra Modi government are not new.The Union government made “many requests” to Twitter during the farmers’ protests for the deletion of content by journalists critical of official policy and also threatened to shut down Twitter in India and raid its employees’ homes, Twitter founder and former owner Jack Dorsey recently revealed in an online interview.Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has been eager to comply with local rules, and had told BBC earlier that the site will accept the blocking orders issued by the Indian government instead of facing a situation where Twitter employees could be sent to jail.