New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- The Supreme Court in a recent order has stayed all pending challenges to the Centre's Sahyog portal pending before two high courts on a petition filed by Centre seeking transfer of these cases to the top court for deciding the constitutional validity of section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act dealing with Centre's power to order online content takedown. In an order passed on July 22, made public recently, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant issued notice on the Centre's plea and posted the matter for further consideration on August 10. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta who represented the Centre urged the court to stay the proceedings before the high courts of Karnataka and Bombay which are hearing petitions on the same issue. The bench, also comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed, "Meanwhile, following proceedings before the high courts shall remain stayed." These proceedings include cases filed by X Corp and Digipub News India Foundation pending in the Karnataka high court, and petitions filed by comedian Kunal Kamra and Haresh Jagtiani in the Bombay high court. Mehta informed the court that the pendency of the matter in different high courts may result in conflicting verdicts on a common issue. The stay has come at a time when the Bombay HC had proceeded with the hearing of the matter and had directed Centre to file a response before the next date of hearing on August 14. The Sahyog portal was developed by the Ministry of Home Affairs as a common platform to communicate government's takedown orders to intermediaries. The petitions had claimed before the high courts that such a measure by the Centre did not follow the due process and the checks prescribed by the Supreme Court in the Shrey Singhal case of 2015....