The Delhi High Court on Tuesday, 24 November, passed an ad interim order against investor Aniruddha Malpani restraining him from posting or sharing any derogatory content against BYJU’s owned- WhiteHat Jr. The court further directed select tweets by Malpani against the online coding company be taken down.
During the proceedings, the company argued that Malpani’s statements were defamatory, “and every republication is a fresh case for defamation” reported Live Law.
Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, who appeared for the startup further argued, “This man has gone on a Twitter rampage – how do you stop a bull on a run? He's called us liar, cheater, pigs, and said that we are associated with a convicted person, which is completely false.”
Malpani’s advocate argued that WhiteHat Jr was muzzling free speech. He said, “On one side there is a $12 billion behemoth and on the other side these people, who have just been picked up as examples.” He further added that the tweets were taken out of context, reported Live Law.
The court has issued summons and notice to Aniruddha Malpani on the suit. The case will be heard next on 14 january 2021 but the parties will have to file a written statement and reply along with an affidavit within 30 days.
The Delhi High Court, on Monday, 23 November, had directed software engineer Pradeep Poonia to take down specific tweets about WhiteHat Jr after founder-CEO Karan Bajaj had filed a Rs 20 crore defamation case. Poonia was also restrained from using the name WhiteHat Sr on his YouTube channel.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)