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Delhi HC Directs Whatsapp LLC To Explain Identification Mechanism Which It Uses To Identify A WhatsApp Group By Its Name

By - Tanveer Kaur
Update: 2024-03-17 06:00 GMT

The Delhi High Court directed WhatsApp to explain the mechanism it uses to identify WhatsApp groups by their names and the technical difficulties that they would face in implementing such a direction.

“Insofar as the suspension/ deletion of the WhatsApp group “Peak XV 1026” is concerned, WhatsApp LLC is directed to file an affidavit explaining the mechanism followed by them to identify a group by its name and the technical difficulties that they would face for implementing such a direction. Plaintiffs, in the meantime, are permitted to undertake attempts to ascertain another identifier that can be provided to WhatsApp LLC for implementing directions to remove/ block the group “Peak XV 1026”.” Justice Sanjeev Narula stated.

In the present case, Plaintiff, PEAK XV Partners Advisors India filed a suit against a fraudulent online investment and trading scheme orchestrated by defendant no. 1, John Doe under which unwary consumers are directed to use the website and mobile application, that offer multiple investment options, but the returns were not received by the investors. As per Plaintiff, the name “PAK XV” used by defendant no. 1 was deceptively similar to their “PEAK XV” trademark, to lure consumers.

The Court noted that the impugned website also offers an option for customer service through the WhatsApp group created under the trademark of the Plaintiff “PEAK XV”. The Court further noted that the members of the defendant’s WhatsApp group used the profile pictures of the Plaintiff’s managing director and others.

The Plaintiff approached the High Court with the present application seeking to implead WhatsApp LLC as Defendant No. 10 and to extend the directions given to Meta Platforms in earlier order where it was directed to delete the WhatsApp groups and remove/ block access to the WhatsApp accounts of the mobile numbers and file in a sealed cover, the IP addresses from which the WhatsApp accounts of the mobile numbers mentioned in Document-A to the plaint, with suitable modifications, to WhatsApp LLC.

As per the Counsel for the Defendant, Advocate Tejas Karia, no evidence depicting violation of the Plaintiffs’ rights in the mark “PEAK XV” was supplied by the Plaintiffs. He further contended that there was no material to show that the individual  WhatsApp accounts have posted messages resembling the impugned content in the WhatsApp group titled “Peak XV 1026” within the Indian jurisdiction.

He argued that sufficient identifiers for WhatsApp LLC to locate the aforesaid group for necessary action were not provided.
The Court noted that the use of such display pictures indicated the intent of the owners of members of that group to create an impression of authenticity that the group originates from Plaintiff No. 1 company itself. It went on to conclude that the members of that WhatsApp group were working in collusion with one another.
The High Court further noted that after the issuance of ex-parte ad-interim injunction order compliance of Order XXXIX Rule 3 of CPC was also effected on mobile numbers who are member of the group, none came forward on their behalf to contest the present proceedings.

The Court directed WhatsApp LLC to remove/ block access to the WhatsApp accounts of all the mobile numbers of the above-mentioned group. ,
The Court also directed the WhatsApp LLC to file in a sealed cover, Basic subscriber information relating to the WhatsApp accounts of the mobile numbers mentioned in the document.
The Court allowed the application.
Cause Title: PEAK XV Partners Advisors India LLP & Anr. v. John Doe & ors. 
Appearance: 
Appellant: Adv. Sneha Jain, Adv. Yatinder Garg, Adv. Akshay Maloo, Adv. Rajit Ghosh
Respondent: Adv. Piyush Beriwal, Adv. Vedansh Anand, Adv. Nikhil Kumar Chaubey, Adv. Neel Mason, Adv. Vihan Dang, Adv. Ujjawal Bhargava, Adv. Aditya Mathur, Adv. 
Tejas Karia, Adv. Swati Agarwal, Adv. Shashank Mishra, Adv. Mohit Singh, Adv. Akshi Rastogi, Adv. Rathore Adv. Ritika Bansal

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