Delhi High Court Orders Meta Platforms, Telegram To Disclose Details Of Accounts Deceiving Investors Under The Name Of 'Sequoia Capital'

The Delhi High Court has directed social media giants Facebook and Telegram, along with a Domain Name Registrar (DNR), to submit reports in sealed cover revealing the identities of individuals behind accounts, channels, or websites suspected of deceiving people using the name of 'Sequoia Capital', a US-based venture capital firm.

Justice Sanjeev Narula ordered the Meta Platforms Inc. to, “block/remove access to the said profiles/accounts as mentioned in DOCUMENT-A annexed to the plaint. Further, they shall disclose, by filing in a sealed cover, the mobile nos., email ids and IP addresses used to open the fake Facebook profiles/accounts, before this Court within four weeks from today.”

The platform is also directed to remove/block the offending WhatsApp groups/communities as well as the offending WhatsApp accounts.

Justice Narula ordered Telegram to remove or block channels and 2 accounts mentioned by Sequoia. Telegram has also been directed to file in a sealed cover the necessary information pertaining to the identity of the admins of the groups/ channels mentioned in the plaint, within a period of four weeks from the date of order.

Further, Telegram has been directed to file an affidavit on the steps it can take, within its capacity as an intermediary platform, to ensure that no new groups are formed in the name of “Senee Trader” by the same/ new administrators.

“The said affidavit should specifically outline whether it is technologically possible for Defendant No. 3 to ascertain the existence of any other groups utilising “SENEE TRADER”, “SEQUOIA” or “PEAK XV” in their group names or group descriptions. Let the same be filed within four weeks from today,” the order read.

The Court also ordered X (formerly Twitter) to remove accounts mentioned by Sequoia.

The Court has also directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Union of India and Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Union of India, to, “issue necessary notifications/ directions to all telecom and internet service providers, Domain Name Registrars, social media platforms and messaging apps in India, to permanently block/ delete/ remove access to all the telephone numbers, websites, domain names, accounts on social media and messaging platforms etc., which are subject matter of the present suit, and specifically mentioned in DOCUMENTS A, B and C.”

The above directions came in two suits filed by Sequoia against John Doe and Seene Trader.

In one case, Sequoia alleged that Defendant No. 1 (unknown) operates a Facebook account 'Sequoia Capital Academy', which claims that 'Sequoia Capital Business School' Investment Manager– Mr. Chinmoy Golecha– is recruiting 100 investors to join its club for free, and also provides prospective investors a link to join the Telegram group “The Future is in my hands”.

Sequoia further alleged that this Telegram group is being used to encourage potential investors to invest their money in stocks and other alternative investment options through a Mobile application. Sequoia said that the mobile application misuses the Plaintiffs' SEQUOIA and PEAK XV PARTNERS trademarks and also makes misleading and incorrect statements to claims association/affiliation with the Plaintiffs.

It was further alleged that the Imposters operate several social media profiles on Facebook and 'X' which promote 'Sequoia Capital Business School' and claims that Mr. Chinmaya Golecha, expert, has started conducting classes for stock knowledge in the “live broadcast room”.

In the second suit, Sequoia alleged that Seene Trader is operating a fraudulent online investment and trading portal, through the websites www.senee.in, www.senee.net, www.senee.org and a Mobile Application named “Senee Group”, and unauthorisedly misusing Plaintiffs' names and trademarks in Fake Job Advertisements and fake Facebook profiles to dupe job aspirants and potential investors.

It was the case Sequoia that Seene Trader is spreading fake news feed including conducting a road show, advertised as 'Senee Group India celebrates Diwali with a Successful IPO Global Roadshow at NASDAQ' and claiming false association with another genuine capital venture investment firm “Seafund Ventures”, and misusing its SEBI registration number on its fraudulent websites.

Sequoia mentioned that there are several articles, YouTube Videos and comments of the victims on the internet, which claims that “Senee Trader” is a fake entity and has looted the investors of huge sums of money.

Considering the submissions made, the Court observed, “Defendant No. 1 is attracting unsuspecting consumers using the Plaintiff No. 1's reputation connected with their registered trademarks. The operators/ group admins of various WhatsApp and Telegram groups/Communities/ Channels have not been authorized by the Plaintiffs to offer any job recruitment and/or financial trading and investment opportunities and are misrepresenting themselves to the public to that effect.”

“Further, the websites www.senee.in, www.senee.org and www.senee.net prima facie appear to be illegitimate, intended to be used as a ploy to induce the unwary users to “invest” substantial sums of money, which is detrimental to public interest. This also affects the Plaintiffs' standing in the market, as the consumers are initially drawn by the use of the “SEQUOIA” and 'PEAK XV PARTNERS” trademarks,” the Court added.

Thus, the Court restrained the defendant and/or any person acting on their behalf from using the Plaintiff No. 1's registered “SEQUOIA” trademarks or its variations, as a part of their domain names, websites, mobile applications, social media handle names/ profiles credentials/ description, promotional/ business activities on digital or print media, bank accounts and/ or any business papers etc. in any manner that would amount to infringement of Plaintiff No. 1's trademarks.

Case Title: SEQUOIA CAPITAL OPERATIONS LLC & ORS. vs JOHN DOE AND OTHERS 

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 164

Click Here To Read The Order

Click Here To Read The Order