Delhi High Court Orders Blocking Of Websites For Spreading Fake Interview Of Anant Ambani With Anand Narasimhan

The Delhi High Court has directed the blocking of rogue websites disseminating false information about an interview between Reliance Industries Director Anant Ambani and TV18 journalist Anand Narasimhan.

Justice Sanjeev Narula, presiding over the case, ordered Meta and X to remove the related Facebook posts and tweets and to provide details of the users who made these posts within four weeks.

“block/ remove the Facebook post available at the URL identified in paragraph no. 70 of the plaint. They shall, within four weeks from today, file in a sealed cover, the complete details of the user who made the post, as are available with them. A copy of the said documents shall also be provided to counsel for Plaintiffs, which shall be strictly used by them for the purpose of investigation and identification of the perpetrators,” Justice Narula ordered.

The court's decision came after CNBC TV18 and Narasimhan filed a petition against eight websites hosting a fabricated article titled "CNBC-TV18 management refuses to comment on the scandal surrounding its interview 'Vantara (star of the forest)'".

The article falsely linked Ambani to a cryptocurrency trading platform, "Everix Edge", claiming it provided astronomical returns through passive income.

CNBC TV18 alleged that a certain website article fabricated an interview with Ambani, which was originally conducted by Plaintiff No. 6 and uploaded on Plaintiff No. 1's YouTube channel.

Furthermore, it was alleged that the misleading article references and redirects readers to a cryptocurrency trading platform called “Everix Edge” (Defendant No. 9), claiming it helps users earn passive income with astronomical returns.

The article allegedly features a completely fake interview with Mr. Ambani and Defendant No. 6, where Mr. Ambani is purported to say that anyone can make money through passive income on the Defendant No. 9 platform.

Notably, the article quotes Mr. Ambani as claiming that anyone can register with Everix Edge with a minimum deposit of Rs. 26,000 and transform this amount into Rs. 10,00,000, yielding a 4,000% return within a few months.

To lend credibility, the article is falsely presented as being published by the BBC, the renowned public broadcaster and news agency of the United Kingdom, as contended by the plaintiff.

The plaintiff also contended, “It is evident from the screenshot extracted above that the impugned article contains a picture from the Mr. Narasimhan's interview in which Plaintiff No.2 holds copyright. The said article is prima facie defrauding and scamming the public by using the name, likeness, image and reputation of Plaintiff No.6, screengrab/screenshot of the interview in which the copyright is owned by the Plaintiff No.2, name of Plaintiff No.2's channel “CNBCTV18”, and the mark which is deceptively similar to Plaintiff No.1 and 2's marks and TV18 marks.”

The Court was thus, satisfied that the Plaintiffs No.1, 2 and 6 case and ordered the blocking of the websites.

Case Title: Network 18 Media and Investments Limited & Ors v WWW.BrawlersFightClub.Com & Ors

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 673

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