look news india
New Delhi, 14 October (HS). The Division Bench of the Delhi High Court has objected to Wikipedia's plea challenging a single bench order to disclose the name of the person who edited Wikipedia's description of a news agency as a propaganda tool of the government. The bench headed by Chief Justice Manmohan ordered the next hearing on the matter on October 16.
During the hearing today, lawyer Amit Sibal, appearing for Wikipedia, said that Wikipedia cannot reveal the details of the person editing the description. This is part of its privacy policy. Then the court said that if you do not reveal the name, then how will the court know the attitude of the person who has edited the details. During the hearing, the lawyer appearing for the news agency said that it has been said in the Wikipedia page that the judge has threatened that he can order the Government of India to close Wikipedia in the country. On this the court told Wikipedia that this page should have been removed. You cannot threaten the judge. You have to remove that page otherwise we will not hear your petition. We will also instruct the single judge not to hear your side. You may be powerful to the world but we live in a country where there is rule of law.
The court said that you are a service provider. You should reveal the person who edited the details of the news agency. You cannot be a platform to defame anyone. You cannot get protection from this. Then Wikipedia's lawyer sought instructions on this matter and gave time to inform, after which the court ordered a hearing on October 16.
Earlier on September 5, the single bench had issued a notice of contempt of court against Wikipedia. The single bench of Justice Naveen Chawla had said that if further court orders are not followed then we will deal strictly. Fixing the next hearing date as October 25, the Single Bench had ordered the representative of Wikipedia to appear in the court. The news agency had alleged that the information given about him on Wikipedia website is a propaganda tool of the government. On this, the High Court had ordered Wikipedia to disclose the user who wrote this information but Wikipedia did not disclose the user.
During the hearing, the High Court became angry when Wikipedia did not follow the earlier order and said that if the order is not followed further, it will take strict action. During the hearing, Wikipedia said that its headquarters is not in India. On this the High Court said that your headquarters is not in India, it has no meaning. We will consider requesting the government to stop your business in India. If you will not follow the laws of the country then you should not work here.
In fact, the news agency has filed a petition in the High Court saying that Wikipedia has given permission to post derogatory content about it. While giving the description of the news agency in Wikipedia, it is written that it is a propaganda tool of the government. This is tarnishing the image of the news agency. Advocate Siddhant Kumar, appearing for the news agency, demanded that the identity of the user who posted such details regarding it be disclosed. On behalf of Wikipedia, lawyer Tine Abraham has said that it edits any information of the user. On this the High Court said that despite this, Wikipedia cannot escape its responsibility. The High Court made it clear that Wikipedia will have to follow the laws of the country.
