Delhi High Court on Wednesday ordered Wikipedia to take down a page on the ongoing defamation case filed by Asian News International (ANI) against the online encyclopaedia, calling it prima facie contemptuous.
A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela noted that the page titled “Asian News International vs. Wikimedia Foundation” has comments against the court in relation to the case which can be considered contempt of court, and therefore ordered it to be taken down.
The concerned Wikipedia page claims that “the judge in the case has threatened to order the government of India to shut down Wikipedia in the country.” The court said, “First take down the Wiki page on this matter then we will hear.”
The order came while hearing a plea filed by the Wikimedia Foundation against an order of a single judge bench of the court directing an authorised representative of Wikipedia to be personally present in Court for the defamation case, and to disclose the identity of editors who added defamatory content to ANI’s wiki page.
Earlier on Monday, the two-judge bench objected to the creation of the Wikipedia page on the ongoing case, saying that the page will have to be taken down for the case to proceed, and the single judge cannot be put in fear or be threatened.
During the hearing on Wednesday, ANI Advocate Siddhant Kumar told the court that after the last hearing, observations of the division bench were opened up for discussion on the page. The bench said that this “compounds the contempt.”
The court said, “The said description of the impugned order and of the single judge is prima facie contemptuous and amounts to interference in the court proceedings and that too by an entity whose editors are defendants in the suit.“
Wikipedia Counsel Akhil Sibal argued that the page and its discussions were not created by Wikipedia, adding that if the court orders its deletion, the it will be complied with. “Accordingly, in the interim, this Court directs that the pages on Wikipedia pertaining to the single judge as well as discussion of the observations of division bench be taken down or deleted within 36 hours,” the Court ordered.
Notably, ANI has filed a defamation case against Wikipedia for adverse comments made in its wiki page. The agency objected to the comment saying that ANI “has been criticized for having served as a propaganda tool for the incumbent central government, distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites, and misreporting events.”
The news agency has also sought ₹2 crore in damages from Wikipedia. In its plea, ANI said that Wikipedia has published false and defamatory content with malicious intent of tarnishing the news agency’s reputation and to discredit its goodwill.
On 20 August, the court ordered Wikipedia to disclose the identity of three editors who made those edits within two weeks. However, when Wikipedia failed to comply with the order, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to it after ANI filed a contempt petition. The court came down heavily on the foundation for not complying with the order, saying that their business transactions will be closed in India. The court had also asked Wikipedia not to work in India if they didn’t like India.
