Delhi High Court Directs Malayalam News Portal To Take Down Defamatory Content Published Against Lulu Group Founder MA Yusuff Ali

The Delhi High Court has granted interim relief to MA Yusuff Ali, Chairman of Lulu Group International, by directing Shajan Skariah, the editor of online Malayalam news portal "Marunadan Malayalee", to remove all defamatory content published against the billionaire businessman from social media within 24 hours.

On failure to do so, YouTube has been directed to take down all such defamatory content posted in the Marunadan Malayalee channel against Yusuff Ali and to suspend the operation of the channel . Further, the Court restrained Skariah from using any platform/social media platforms including YouTube for making any comments/remarks in relation to Yusuff Ali.

A single bench of Justice Chandra Dhari Singh passed the interim injunction against Skariah in a defamation suit filed by Yusuff Ali seeking damages of Rs 10 crores for loss of reputation. The bench remarked that Skariah's comments "prima facie seem to be a misuse of the liberties where in the garb of freedom of speech and expression" and that he "is unnecessarily targeting the Plaintiff and his business group and posting false and defamatory content about the Plaintiff".

The bench reminded that "even though the right to free speech and expression is a fundamental tenet of liberty which is considered to be an indispensable part of an effective democracy, the same does not give an absolute right to abuse one’s freedom to defame others".

The bench also took note of the submission made by Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Saurabh Kirpal for Yusuff Ali that Skaria is also defaming the highest officers and constitutional functionaries of the nation through his portal.

Skariah's lawyer contended that the suit was not maintainable before the Delhi High Court.  

The Lulu group founder alleged that Skariah was running a "continuous online defamatory campaign" against him and his business groups.

He informed the Court that previously, a suit was filed before a Kerala court against various parties including Skariah and his news channel, for having made false and defamatory allegations. In the said suit, the court has passed a detailed injunction order restraining Skariah from making and publishing false and defamatory statements, videos, etc. against Yusuff Ali. Also, a complaint has been filed before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow, seeking relief against the defamatory statements made by Skariah. Those matters related to different causes of action.

It was argued that despite previous court orders passed against Skariah, the latter continues to post defamatory and false content.

Prima facie case made out against Skariah

The court observed that even though the right to free speech and expression is a fundamental tenet of liberty which is considered to be an indispensable part of an effective democracy, the same does not give an absolute right to abuse one’s freedom to defame others. “The law related to defamation is one such reasonable restriction on the freedom of speech as prescribed under the Constitution”, the court said.

“Upon a bare perusal of the contents of the plaint and the content posted by the defendant no.1 on record before this Court, a prima facie case is made out against the defendant no. 1. Accordingly, in view of the prima facie case being made out as well as in the interest of protection of rights of the plaintiff, this Court is of the opinion that in the instant case, an ad-interim injunction merits to be granted,” the bench ruled.

“The defendant No.1 is directed to forthwith take down all/any content published by it on any platform/social media platforms including that of the defendant no. 2 i.e. YouTube in relation to the plaintiff as mentioned in the paragraphs 12, 13, 15, 16, 20 and 22 of the instant application within the next 24 hours,” the court directed.

“Till the next date of hearing, the defendant no. 1 is also restrained from using any platform/social media platforms including that of the defendant no. 2 i.e. YouTube for making any comments/remarks in relation to the plaintiff herein,” the court said.

The court has listed the matter for 22nd August, 2023.

Case Title: MR. YUSUFFALI MUSALIAM VEETTIL ABDUL KADER vs MR. SHAJAN SKARIAH & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 449

Dated: 26.05.2023

Counsel for the Petitioner: Mr. Mukul Rohatgi, and Mr. Saurabh Kirpal, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Haris Beeran, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr. Achuthan Sreekumar, Mr. Mushtaq Salim, Mr. Ranjeeta Rohatgi, Mr. Nikhil Arora, Mr. Rohit Bansal, Mr. Azhar Assees and Ms. Apoorva Prasad R., Advocates

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