On July 9, Asian News International (ANI), a prominent Indian news agency, has filed a ₹2 crore defamation suit against the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, in the Delhi High Court. The suit alleges that Wikipedia published defamatory content, causing irreparable damage to ANI's reputation. The defamation suit was triggered by an article on Wikipedia, which ANI claims contained false and misleading information about the news agency. ANI's legal team contends that the content was factually incorrect and maliciously crafted to harm the agency's credibility.
ANI argued that Wikipedia did not dispute that three people—who are also defendants in the defamation suit—were not administrators on the platform when Wikimedia came before the court on August 20. Therefore, the court ordered Wikipedia to make these people's subscription details available to the public view within a week.
On Thursday, the Delhi High Court convicted Wikimedia Foundation Inc., the entity responsible for Wikipedia, for disregarding a directive to reveal details about changes made to the Wikipedia page of Asian News International (ANI), an Indian news agency. Justice Navin Chawla, who has jurisdiction over the case, sent a strong warning to Wikimedia and served as a contempt notice holder.
"We can not stand it any longer. Judge Chawla said, "Do not work here if you do not like India." "I will enforce disdain...Here, we shall conclude your commercial dealings. We are going to petition the government to ban Wikipedia.You people have adopted this argument earlier as well. The bench said, "Please do not work in India if you do not like India."
Additionally, the court mandated that a Wikipedia representative show up in person for the upcoming hearing on October 25. The lawsuit said that the defamatory alterations on its page branded ANI as a "propaganda automobile" for the current administration. Later on, ANI applied to the High Court for contempt, claiming that Wikipedia had disregarded the court's earlier order.