Skip to main content

In 2016 an aggrieved Tata Sons Ltd. approached the Delhi High Court for the grant of John Doe orders against anonymous individuals publishing defamatory and libellous emails against a senior officer of a Tata company. Three internet service providers (ISPs) were also made parties to the suit.

Tata sought a permanent injunction against the circulation of such defamatory content along with an order directing the three ISPs to block the 35 email addresses which were being used for the dissemination of libellous material and reveal the identities of the individuals responsible for the defamatory emails.

Pursuant to the court’s directions on 7 December 2016, the three ISPs revealed under sealed cover to the court the identities of the 35 anonymous email addresses from which the derogatory material was disseminated. Tata then made an application to implead four individuals who were identified as the key perpetrators.

Rejecting submissions against addition of the new defendants, the court allowed the impleadment application and the identities of the four anonymous individuals stood unmasked. The court also rejected the contentions of the ISPs that they should be deleted from the array of parties and considered their presence to be necessary in the suit.

Tata Sons Limited & anr v John Doe & ors.; before the Delhi High Court; Order dated 20.03.2017

Most Recent

News & Insights

VIEW ALL
News & Updates
Aug 25, 2025

At the FICCI–ICRIER Conference on SEPs (23rd August 2025), our Managing Partner Mr. Pravin Anand shared his vision on how India can evolve from being

Conference on Standard Essential Patents (SEPs)
News & Updates
Aug 24, 2025

‘Intellectual Property for a company/ creator is as critical and important as human rights for an individual,’ this guiding belief at ANAND AND ANAND

IAM Strategy 300
Thought Leadership
Aug 21, 2025

‘First published on IAM’ By:  Vaishali R Mittal Patent examination by the Indian Patent Office (IPO) has slowed down dramatically over the last few

Patent examination slowdown risks harming India’s IP momentum
Thought Leadership
Jul 28, 2025

‘First published on Asia IP’ By: Pravin Anand In the book What is Life, written in 1944 by theoretical physicist Erwin Schrödinger, the author states: “A

Human versus machine consciousness