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
Thought Leadership
May 29, 2025

‘First published on Lexology’ By: Sandhya Singh, Sampada Kapoor and Kritika Gandhi Trademarks play a pivotal role in distinguishing the goods or services

Heir of the Family Trademarks
Thought Leadership
May 15, 2025

‘First published on India Business Law Journal’ By: Pravin Anand, Dr. Ajai Garg and Alvin Antony The ascendancy of large language models (LLMs) has

Navigating the AI frontier: India’s sovereign LLM quest
Thought Leadership
Apr 30, 2025

‘First published on Asia IP’ By: Prachi Agarwal and Manan Mondal In a significant ruling, the Division Bench of the Delhi High Court in Wipro Enterprises

Senior user versus junior user: Delhi High Court confirms passing off in a trademark dispute
Thought Leadership
Apr 29, 2025

‘First published on IP Stars’ By: Safir Anand, Omesh Puri and Abhishek Paliwal As the world changes and technology grows fast, the way we think about

The future of trademarks: shaping tomorrow’s brand identity