Sameer Wankhede's Defamation Suit "Frivolous", Should Be Dismissed: Twitter

Anti-drugs agency officer Sameer Wankhede and his wife's lawsuit against Twitter over tweets against the couple is "frivolous" and not tenable on facts or in law, the social media giant said today.

Sameer Wankhede and his actor-wife Kranti Redkar had approached a civil court in Mumbai last month, seeking a direction to restrain social media giants, including Twitter, from publishing or displaying any "malicious and defamatory" content against them on their platforms.

The two have also sought interim and ad-interim reliefs till their application was decided.

On Friday, Twitter filed its response before the court saying it's an intermediary and not liable for content hosted on its platform under the relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

"It is entitled to statutory immunity. If an intermediary is to regulate content which is available on its platform on its own, it loses the safe harbour immunity provided to it under the scheme of the IT Act," the reply said.

Hence, Twitter cannot be held liable for any objectionable content being posted by its users on its platform, it said. The company further said the suit itself, and the application, are "false, frivolous, and vexatious and is not tenable on facts or in law" and deserves to be dismissed.

Citing provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), the company said the court doesn't have the jurisdiction to preside over the matter.

It said the officer and his wife have sought to invoke the jurisdiction of this court based on their residence.

"However, it is settled law that the place of residence of the plaintiff is not relevant to determine the territorial jurisdiction in any suit," the reply said.

As per the CrPC, a suit can only be filed where the defendant resides or the cause of action arises. The petitioners have failed to show how the action arose within the jurisdiction of this court, it said.

On the interim relief plea, Twitter submitted that the prayer is "overbroad" and contrary to the settled principles of law, and cannot be granted.

"No content has been identified in the interim application which is allegedly defamatory," it added.

Twitter claimed there cannot be a blanket takedown of an account unless the court finds that all the tweets to be defamatory.

"This is more so because the plaintiffs have failed to make the account holder a party," it added.

It also denied the allegations that gossip and rumour are blown out of proportion by various Twitter users.

There is a legal mechanism to regulate content available on the platform. However, the petitioners' prayers seek to circumvent that legal process, the company told the court.

Besides Twitter, the couple had sought a permanent injunction against Google and Facebook.

The suit claimed that "sponsored misinformation" is being spread on social media platforms by various "unscrupulous elements" at the behest of individuals against whom the Narcotics Control Bureau officer has acted.

It is clear that the "misinformation campaign" is a consequence of vested interests that are affected by investigations carried out by the NCB official, the plea claimed.

Google and Facebook filed their replies on the previous hearing. The matter will be next heard on December 21.

Sameer Wankhede and his family had been locked in a bitter spat with Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik, who over the last few months has made a series of allegations against them, all denied by the NCB officer and his family.

Sameer Wankhede's father has also filed a defamation suit against the minister in the Bombay High Court.