Builders drag Google into defamation case in HC

Internet bigwig Google India Private Limited (GIPL) is embroiled in a case of defamation. However, the leading search engine company says it has been dragged into the legal battle without enough cause.

Seeking the quashing of a complaint filed by a developer in Pune and the bailable warrant issued by a court there, they have said in their petition in the Bombay high court that the company is not responsible for the content put out by users on their blogs. Justice JH Bhatia admitted the petition on Tuesday.

The petition filed by GIPL and its managing director Shailesh Rao states that Ravindra Sakla, who had filed the defamation complaint, was a partner in the two companies that formed the Fortaleza Developers which had sold a number of flats in their residential complex at Yerawada. However, some of the residents had started a blog against the builders making serious allegations against them.

Although a court had restrained the residents from publishing defamatory information against the builder, the blog continued to be available on the internet.

When GIPL told the developers that they were not party to the litigation and not affected by the magistrate’s order of October 16, 2007, Sakla filed a separate criminal complaint against GIPL. Since court summons were served on the company’s Hyderabad address, its officials did not receive them as they shifted to Bangalore on January 31, 2009. A court then issued bailable warrants against the managing director then.