Date: 09-11-2020
Business: Adv. Kohali h/f Adv. P.D. Gandhy for plaintiff present and filed original NM no. 1579/20 along with affidavit. He also filed two affidavits in rejoinder on behalf of plaintiff to the affidavit in reply filed by defendant no. 4 and 11. He also filed reply on behalf of plaintiff to the affidavit in support of NM filed by the defendant no. 5 and also a rejoinder on behalf of the plaintiff to the affidavit in support of NM filed by the defendant no. 5. He also filed an affidavit in reply on behalf of the plaintiff to the affidavit in support of CS filed by defendant no. 11.
Adv. V. K. Anand for defendant no. 2 present and filed an undertaking on behalf of defendant no. 2 Mr. Vibhor Anand in compliance with the orders of this court dated 28.09.20 without prejudice to his rights. It is taken on record. He undertakes to serve the copy of the undertaking on the Ld. counsel for plaintiff.
Senior Adv. Mr. Cooper has joined the hearing of today\''s proceeding on VC along with Adv. Bryan Pillai, who is present before the court on behalf of defendant no. 4 and 5. Adv. Pillai filed draft NM along with affidavit. Leave granted to register draft NM. Copy served on other side. He also filed VP, WS and affidavit in reply to NM filed by plaintiff on behalf of defendant no. 4. He also filed VP, WS and affidavit in reply to NM filed by plaintiff on behalf of defendant no. 5.
Adv. Tofiq Kapadia for defendant no. 6 and 8 present and filed two VP on behalf of defendant no. 6 and 8 separately.
Adv. Shreya Fatterpekar I/b L. C. Tolat and Co. for defendant no. 7 present and filed VP.
Adv. Keswani for defendant no. 9 and 10 present.
Adv. More for defendant no. 11 present and filed original CS no. 618/20 supported by affidavit along with noterized copy of CS no. 618/20 and affidavit.
Ld. counsel for defendants have sought adjournment on various grounds for hearing on the pending CS. Heard adv. Gandhy on behalf of plaintiff and adv. Mr. cooper on behalf of defendant no. 4 and 5 for some time on VC. Mr. Cooper submitted that he has been not provided soft copy of reply filed by the plaintiff today though hard copy is provided in the court to Adv. Mr. Pillai on his behalf. Mr. Gandhy assured that he will provide soft copy also. Accordingly, soft copy of reply is also provided. Mr. Cooper urged that the CS filed on behalf of defendant no. 4 needs to be taken up for hearing before considering the request of the Ld. counsel for plaintiff regarding non-compliance of the orders of the court by the defendant no. 02.
Now, since, Ld. counsel for defendant no.2 also appeared and filed an undertaking on behalf of defendant no. 2, the purpose of the plaintiff is likely to be served by said undertaking. Hence, plaintiff to consider the same. Mr. Gandhy on behalf fo the plaintiff submitted that Ld. counsel for defendant no. 2 has informed that defendant no. 2 has been granted bail. So he will be out of JC after formalities are completed. Therefore, he suggested that if the undertaking is personally signed by the Mr. Vibhor Anand, that will serve the purpose of the plaintiff.
Ld. counsel for parties are directed to provide their E-mail Id to court, so link can be sent to them for hearing on VC on the next date.
In view of above by consent of parties, Matter stands Adj for further hearing on pending CS and compliance by defendant no. 2 to 11.11.2020
Next Purpose: HEARING
Next Hearing Date: 11-11-2020
Date: 11-11-2020
Business: Adv. P. D. Gandhy with Advocates Mr. Kohli, Mr.Parag, Ms.Saloni Shah I/b DSK Legal for plaintiff present.
Defendant no. 2 present.
Adv. V. K. Anand for defendant no. 2 present.
Adv. Bryan Pillai for defendant no. 4 and 5 present and filed original NM no. 1647/20 alongwith affidavit.
Adv. Anajan Jhunjunwalla with Adv. Mr. Toufiq Kapadia I/b M. Mulla Associates for defendant no. 6 and 8 present.
Adv. Shreya Fatterpekar I/b L.C. Tolat and Co. for defendant no. 7 present.
Adv. Keswani for defendant no. 9 and 10 present and filed VP and affidavit in reply on behalf of defendant no. 9 and 10 to NM filed by plaintiff. Copy served on other side.
Adv . More for defendant no. 11 present.
Ld. counsel for defendant no. 2 produced a draft undertaking to be submitted to the court as per understanding between the parties on the last date. Perused the draft undertaking. Heard Ld. counsel for plaintiff and defendant no. 2 on the contents of undertaking.
Ld. counsel for plaintiff substantially accepted the draft undertaking with some minor suggestions and corrections to be made by the defendant no. 2, if the same are acceptable to him. The defendant no. 2, who is present before the court in person, is heard. He accepted the suggestions made by the Ld. counsel for plaintiff and sought time to make changes in the draft undertaking.
Accordingly, after hearing both the sides, time granted for submitting final undertaking and the matter is kept Back.
Later on at. 1.50 pm matter is taken up again.
Ld. counsel for defendant no. 2 submitted the undertaking duly signed by defendant no. 2 and himself on behalf of defendant no. 2.
Written undertaking filed by the defendant no. 2. TOR.
The defendant no. 2 admitted the contents and in view of submissions made before the court by the Ld. counsel for plaintiff added one word and deleted few words of the last paragraph of the undertaking and attested the corrections by duly putting his initials against the corrections.
After hearing both sides, the written undertaking submitted by the defendant no. 2 is accepted on record. In view of the undertaking given by the defendant no. 2, Ld. counsel for plaintiff Mr. Gandhy submitted that the plaintiff is withdrawing the suit against the defendant no. 2, with a liberty to file fresh suit, if fresh cause of action arises.
In view of the above, the present suit as against defendant no. 2, with reference to the cause of action as pleaded in the suit, is hereby dismissed, as withdrawn by the plaintiff in view of the undertaking given by the defendant no. 2. The suit to proceed against the rest of the defendants.
Heard Ld. counsel Mr.Cooper, who is present through video conferencing on behalf of defendant no.4 and 5 and Mr. Gandhy for plaintiff, who is physically present before the court on NM no. 1647/20, on point of deletion of name of defendant no. 5 from the suit. Order is reserved. Ld. counsel for other defendants sought time to argue pending NM and CS. Time granted.
Matter stands Adj for order on NM no. 1647/20 and further hearing/steps by plaintiff regarding withdrawal of the suit against the remaining defendants to 04.12.2020.
Next Purpose: HEARING
Next Hearing Date: 04-12-2020
Date: 04-12-2020
Business: Adv. Pradeep Gandhy, Adv. Mr. Nausher Kohli a/w Adv. Mr. Parag Khandar, Adv. Ms. Saloni Shah I/b DSK Legal for Plaintiff present.
Senior Counsel Soli Cooper, Adv. Yohann Cooper, Adv. Bryan Pillai for Defendant No. 4 and 5
Adv. Ms. Anuja Jhunjunwala a/w Mr. Toufiq Kapadia I/b M. Mulla Associates present for Deft. No. 6 and 8.
Adv. Fatterpekar I/b L.C Tolat Co. for Deft. No. 7 present.
Adv. Rishikesh Soni a/w Adv. Padmaja Dholakia and Adv. Charushila More I/b Dholakia Law Associates present for Deft. No. 11 (Google India).
Adv. Naresh Thacker, Adv. Dinesh Pednekar, and Adv. Chanakya Keswani (Google LLC, Youtube) for Deft No. 9 and 10
Heard Ld. counsel for the plaintiff as well as the defendants. As per order dated 11.11.2020, the plaintiff has withdrawn the suit against the Deft. No. 2 and he is ready to withdraw the suit against the rest of the defendants, subject to the condition that the concerned defendants take down the defamatory posts on the respective social media platforms, as per the details given in Annexure A alongwith the plaint at Page 44 onwards.
Ld. counsel for the defendants submitted that they have no objection to the proposed withdrawal of the suit by the plainitff, but, before that it will be proper, if the plaintiff files a purshis specifying the details of the defamatory posts as well as the URL with the reference of the defendant who has to take down the said posts, so as to enable the defendants to comply with the directions, if any, given by the court.
Ld counsel for the plaintiff accepted the suggestion and submitted that he will be submitting the necessary purshis on Monday, 07.12.2020 and serve soft copy of the same to the defendants by email.
In view of the above, matters stands adjourned for filing purshis by the plaintiff. Considering the possibility of withdrawal of the suit by the plaintiff, the passing of order on NM No. 1647/20 is deferred till next date.
By consent of parties, matters stands adjourned for filing purshis on 07.12.2020 and the passing of order on NM No. 1647/20 on 11.12.2020
Next Purpose: WITHDRAWAL
Next Hearing Date: 11-12-2020
Date: 11-12-2020
Business: Adv. Pradeep Gandhy, Adv. Mr. Nausher Kohli a/w Adv. Mr. Parag Khandhar, I/b DSK Legal for Plaintiff present.
Senior Counsel Soli Cooper, Adv. Yohann Cooper, Adv. Bryan Pillai for Defendant No. 4 and 5 present.
Adv. Ms. Anuja Jhunjunwala a/w Mr. Toufiq Kapadia I/b M. Mulla Associates for Deft. No. 6 and 8 present.
Adv. Rohit Lalwani I/b L.C Tolat Co. for Deft. No. 7 present.
Adv. Rishikesh Soni a/w Adv. Padmaja Dholakia and Adv. Charushila More I/b Dholakia Law Associates for Deft. No. 11 (Google India) present.
Adv. Naresh Thacker, Adv. Dinesh Pednekar, and Adv. Chanakya Keswani (Youtube LLC deft no. 9, Google LLC deft no. 10) for Deft No. 9 and 10 present.
Plaintiff and defendants through their counsels are present before the court.
As per the statement made before the court on 04.12.2020, Ld. counsel for plaintiff has filed the purshis on 09.12.2020 in this court, seeking withdrawal of the suit, in view of the facts and circumstances mentioned there in, with liberty to file fresh suit in the event of any fresh cause of action.
Purshis submitted by the plaintiff. Seen and filed.
The above purshis is taken on record in the presence of Ld. counsel for both the sides. I have heard the respective counsels regarding the contents of the purshis.
Mr. Soli Cooper, Ld. counsel for defendant no. 4 and Mr. Naresh Thacker for defendant no. 10 submitted that in para no. 4 and 5 of the purshis, there is mention of the defendant numbers, who shall be responsible for taking down the defamatory posts in relation to the various objectionable posts on Twitter, Youtube and Facebook specified in the table with reference to the URL. Therefore, they requested that while disposing of the suit on the basis of the purshis, it is necessary to give specific direction to the respective defendant with reference to the URL, as mentioned in the table, regarding taking down of the posts.
It is further submitted that if the court accept the purshis, filed by the plaintiff then, while disposing of the suit if there is specific order from the court, giving a finding regarding defamatory contents of the objectionable posts referred to in the table, then only the respective defendant no. 4 and 10 will be in a position to take down such post and comply with the orders of the court.
Ld. counsel for the rest of the defendants submitted that they have no objection to withdrawal of the suit by the plaintiff, as per purshis and that they shall not be required to make any compliance regarding taking down of the said defamatory posts mentioned in the table.
I have carefully gone through the contents of the purshis submitted on behalf of the plaintiff and taken into consideration oral submissions made before the court by the Ld. counsel for parties.
I am satisfied that in view of the withdrawal of the suit against defendant no. 2, as per his undertaking given before the court on 11.11.2020, the grievances of the plaintiff stands resolved and satisfied. In view of the same, it will be just and proper to allow the plaintiff to withdraw suit against rest of the defendants in terms of the purshis filed on record. Hence, the purshis is accepted and by consent of parties, plaintiff is allowed to withdraw the suit, with liberty to file fresh suit in respect of fresh cause of action. In the circumstances of the case, there shall be no orders as to costs.
As per interim order passed by this court dated 28.09.2020, the objectionable posts on the social media were found prima facie defamatory and the defendant no. 1 to 3 were restrained temporarily from posting, reposting, tweeting, sharing, sending messages and facts on social media platforms etc. until further order. These objectionable posts have been specifically mentioned in para no. 5 of the purshis by the plaintiff. Hence, for the sake of clarity and ready reference, the said table is made part and parcel of this order and reproduced as under:
Sr. No.
URLS
Defendant No.
1.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snccvc_MaOM
@ page 48 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tV0NA7GDVQ
@ page 49 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
3.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb0TyGc6HCE
@ page 50 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
4.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7XWvduuMBY
@ page 51 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
5.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRZdoHEcS70
@ page 53-55 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
6.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSaYWQP8_UM
@ page 58 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
7.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ad__9A5gj2g
@ page 61 of Plaint
Defendant No.10
8.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1845837442126882/permalink/3537791566264786/
Defendant No.4
9.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1845837442126882/permalink/3540775909299685/
Defendant No.4
10.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/439979096038608/permalink/3312579172111905/
Defendant No.4
These objectionable posts have been specifically mentioned in the above table, with reference to the URL and the defendant no. 4 and 10, who are in a position to take down the said objectionable posts from the social media platforms, have been specifically mentioned. As such, after going through the contents of the said objectionable posts at Sr. no. 1 to 10 mentioned in the above table, I find that the said posts are per se defamatory. Therefore, I hold and confirm the finding recorded in that regard in the order dated 28.09.2020 and direct the defendant no. 4 and 10 to take down the said objectionable posts mentioned in the table in the purshis from the respective social media platforms, within one month from the date of communication of this order to the respective defendants.
As a result, the suit is disposed of as withdrawn by the plaintiff against all the defendants.
It is clarified that the defendants no. 5 to 9 and 11 are not required to make any compliance, as per the contents of the purshis.
All Notice motions, Chamber summons pending in the suit shall stands disposed of as infructuous.
Plaintiff shall entitled to refund of Court fees as per rule.
Suit is on stamp number and draft NM and CS, if any, shall be registered for statistical purpose.
Nature Of Disposal: DISMISSED
Disposal Date: 11-12-2020
