Delhi High Court - Orders
Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing ... vs Rishabh Kaushal & Ors on 8 September, 2021
Author: C. Hari Shankar
Bench: C. Hari Shankar
$~4
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 273/2021 & I.A. 7242/2021, I.A. 9384/2021, I.A.
9385/2021, I.A. 11040/2021, I.A. 11059/2021
GUJARAT COOPERATIVE MILK MARKETING
FEDERATION LTD & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Chetan Sharma, Sr. Adv.,
Mr. Abhishek Singh, Mr. J.Amal Anand, and
Mr. Elvin Joshy, Advs.
versus
RISHABH KAUSHAL & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Parag Tripathi, Sr. Adv.
with Mr. Tejas Karia, Mr. Ajit Warrier, Mr.
Gauhar Mirza, Mr. Shyamal Anand, Mr.
Thejesh Rajendran, Ms. Malikah Mehra and
Ms. Mishika Bajpai, Advs. for Facebook
Inc./D-2
Mr. Deepak Gogia, Adv. for D-3
Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. Vihan Dang and Mr.
Shivang Sharma, Advs. for Google LLC/D-6
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE C. HARI SHANKAR
ORDER
% 08.09.2021 I.A. 11040/2021 in CS(COMM) 273/2021
1. Exemption allowed, subject to all just exemptions.
2. The application is disposed of.
I.A. 9384/2021 & I.A. 9385/2021 in CS(COMM) 273/2021
3. Mr. Sharma, learned Senior Counsel for the plaintiff, draws my Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(COMM) 273/2021 Page 1 of 5 Signing Date:13.09.2021 16:18:30 attention to para 6 of the order dated 2nd August, 2021, passed in the present proceedings and submits that there is no compliance, by Defendant Nos. 4 and 5, with the directions contained in the said paragraph. For ready reference, para 6 of the order dated 2nd August, 2021 is reproduced as under:
"6. Accordingly,
(i) Defendant No. 4 & 5 are directed to suspend, forthwith, the URLs mentioned in Paras 6 and 9 of I.A. 9385/2021, in case they are still in existence or have not been deleted.
(ii) Defendant No. 4 & 5 are restrained from dealing with the plaintiffs' "Amul", trademarks, logos, advertisements, or any word confusingly or deceptively similar thereto, and
(iii) Defendant No. 4 & 5 are restrained from uploading, on any other web page or social media account, any material which would be defamatory of the plaintiff or containing materials similar to that reflected in Paras 41 to 52 of the present plaint."
4. Mr. Sharma, therefore, seeks issuance of directions to Defendant No. 2 and Defendant No. 6 on whose platforms, namely Facebook Inc. and YouTube (the latter operated by Defendant No. 6 Google LLC), the offending videos are still available, to take down/block the said video clips.
5. Mr. Tripathi, learned Senior Counsel for Facebook Inc., and Mr. Neel Mason, learned counsel for Google LLC, submit that they have no objection to blocking the URLs, if so directed by this Court.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(COMM) 273/2021 Page 2 of 5 Signing Date:13.09.2021 16:18:306. As such, as there is no compliance with the directions contained in para 6 of the order dated 2nd August, 2021, Defendant Nos. 2 and 6 are directed to block, within a week, the following URLs, which figure in paras 6 and 9 of IA 9385/2021:
ACCOUNT URL
NAME
Facebook account https://www.facebook.com/vegan.yoge
namely "Yogesh sh/videos/10158076661725033/?d=w
Vegun"
(@vegan.yogesh)
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CCa-
Account namely vxbpyYul?utm source=ig web copy
"Yogesh Vegun" link
(@vegan_yogesh)
Account Channel URL
Name Name
Youtube WIDEOPEN https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-
Account gROaRIJBA
7. IA 9384/2021 seeks impleadment of Defendant Nos. 4, 5 and 6, of which Defendant Nos. 4 and 5 are private defendants who are stated to be complicit in posting the allegedly defamatory videos through the platforms of Defendant Nos. 2 and 6.
8. An objection was taken, by Mr. Tripathi, learned Senior Counsel for Facebook Inc./Defendant No. 2, to the impleadment of Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(COMM) 273/2021 Page 3 of 5 Signing Date:13.09.2021 16:18:30 Defendant Nos. 4 and 5 through Defendant Nos. 2 and 6.
9. It was for this reason that this Court had directed that the Basic Subscriber Information (BSI) of Defendant Nos. 4 and 5 be made available to the court.
10. Today, Mr. Mason submits that there is some difficulty in Defendant No. 6 providing the BSI of Defendant No. 5, as the BSI of Defendant No. 5 is not in possession of Defendant No. 6. He undertakes to file an application in this regard suggesting the way forward.
11. The prayer for impleadment of Defendant Nos. 4 and 5 would be considered once the said application is placed on record.
12. The prayer for impleadment of Google LLC is, however, granted. As such, Google LLC would be treated as Defendant No. 6 in the present proceedings.
I.A. 11059/2021 in CS(COMM) 273/2021
13. Issue notice to the defendants.
14. Notice is accepted, by Mr. Tejas Karia, on behalf of Facebook Inc./Defendant No. 2, Mr. Deepak Gogia, on behalf of Defendant No. 3 and Mr. Neel Mason, on behalf of Google LLC/Defendant No. 6, respectively.
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(COMM) 273/2021 Page 4 of 5 Signing Date:13.09.2021 16:18:3015. Reply to this application may be filed within four weeks from today, with advance copy to learned counsel for the applicant/plaintiff, who may file rejoinder thereto, if any, before the next date of hearing.
16. Re-notify on 24th November, 2021.
CS(COMM) 273/2021
17. Re-notify on 24th November, 2021.
C. HARI SHANKAR, J.
SEPTEMBER 8, 2021 dsn Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:SUNIL SINGH NEGI CS(COMM) 273/2021 Page 5 of 5 Signing Date:13.09.2021 16:18:30