Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd. & Anr. v. Mr Scitaram Aithappa Shetty & Ors.
Case brief
What is this about?
Delhi HC CS(OS) 261/2025 (order dt. 15-05-2025, Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav J.): Mahindra & Mahindra defamation suit over tweets by defendant no.1; prima facie case for interim injunction found on decontextualised defamatory material and non-appearance despite notice, but injunction withheld as futile since material removed from public domain and D-1's account suspended by D-2 for policy violation; no final opinion expressed; suit disposed with liberty to re-agitate on recirculation of identical tweets or revocation of suspension; grievances addressable through defendant no.3 acting per extant rules/regulations/policy on furnished details/URLs; Supreme Court decision Wikimedia Foundation Inc. v. ANI Media Pvt. Ltd. (2025 INSC 656) taken note of; no monetary relief.
What did the court decide?
No interim injunction was granted (deemed futile as the material was no longer in the public domain); the civil suit was disposed of with liberty to the plaintiff to re-agitate the issue if defendant no.1 circulates identical tweets or other defamatory material upon revocation of the account suspension, and with liberty to raise grievances with defendant no.3, which is to act on furnished details/URLs as per extant rules/regulations/policy.