The Delhi High Court on Thursday has issued summons to the users accused of making defamatory statements about Asian News International on its Wikipedia page.
The order was passed by Justice Subramonium Prasad after reviewing a Division Bench ruling that allowed Wikipedia to serve summons on the users without disclosing their identities.
The case stems from ANI’s defamation suit, where the news agency accused Wikipedia of permitting defamatory edits on its page. Wikipedia had initially appealed against a single-judge order, which required the platform to disclose the identities of the users behind the defamatory edits.
However, following a recent agreement between Wikipedia and ANI, the Division Bench permitted Wikipedia to share user details with the Court and take steps to serve the summons without publicly revealing the users’ identities.
ANI’s lawyer, Advocate Sidhant Kumar, updated Justice Prasad about the developments in the case, specifically the consent order between ANI & Wikipedia. After reviewing the Division Bench’s decision, Justice Prasad instructed the High Court Registry to comply with the consent terms, ordering the issuance of summons to defendants 2-4.
The summons can be served using all permissible methods, including via email, which will be provided by defendant 1 in a sealed cover.
Wikipedia has been given 4 days to serve the summons, as per the court’s instructions.
The case is set to be heard again on December 16.
ANI’s defamation suit, filed earlier, claims that defamatory content on its Wikipedia page was allowed to persist by the platform, and the news agency has requested the removal of these harmful edits. In July, the court had already summoned Wikipedia to disclose the identities of the users responsible for the edits.
When ANI raised concerns about Wikipedia not complying with the court’s order, Justice Navin Chawla expressed strong disapproval, leading to a contempt notice against the platform.
The single-judge’s orders were later challenged by Wikipedia, and in the Division Bench proceedings, both parties reached an agreement, with Wikipedia agreeing to serve the summons on the accused users while protecting their identities.
(Inputs By Sambhav Sharma)
