Delhi High Court orders Telegram to name channel operators sharing e-papers of Dainik Jagran

Delhi High Court orders Telegram to name channel operators sharing e-papers of Dainik Jagran

The matter will be heard on 27 March 2023

The Delhi High Court has ordered messaging platform Telegram to disclose the identity of users or owners of channels who were unauthorizedly sharing the e-papers of Dainik Jagran.

In the Jagran Prakashan Limited v. Telegram FZ LLC & Ors case, the bench of Justice Navin Chawla gave Telegram the liberty to furnish the information in a sealed cover, noting that the issue was no longer in dispute following the court's order in the Neetu Singh & Anr v. Telegram FZ LLC & Ors case.

In that order, the court had held that if ordered by the Indian courts, Telegram was required to adhere to Indian laws and disclose details, including IP addresses, mobile numbers, and the devices used in operating the channels involved in the copyright infringement.

Thus, the court ruled, "In view of that, Telegram should comply with the directions issued by this court within three weeks. The information may be disclosed in a sealed cover. The court shall consider if any further directions are to be passed on the next date of hearing."

In the 2020 suit, the Jagran Prakashan Limited Group contended that its e-papers could be accessed only after subscription. But those were available for free on various Telegram channels.

The court had passed an order directing Telegram to disclose the identities of the users and owners of the channels. However, Telegram said that though it took down the channels, there were certain issues in disclosing the identities. It neither had the information, nor the rules allowed it to disclose the same.

Meanwhile, Jagran insisted that the order of the court also noted that just because its servers were in some other country, it did not mean that Telegram would not comply with Indian laws.