Bombay High Court restrains posting of defamatory content against Serum Institute of India

The Bombay High Court on Monday granted interim relief to Serum Institute of India (SII) in its defamation suit seeking damages to the tune of ₹100 crore from organisations and individuals who were allegedly posting erroneous content against the company. .Justice RI Chagla pronounced the verdict today."I am of the prima facie view that the contents are in fact per se defamatory in that there is no justification made out by the defendants in support of the statements made", the judge held.The High Court temporarily restrained the defendants - one Yohan Tengra, his organisation Anarchy for Freedom India, and one Ambar Koiri and his organisation Awaken India Movement - from publishing any content against SII or its employees."Defendants are restrained from making and/or publishing and/or reproducing and/or circulating and/or speaking and/or communicating, any derogatory and defamatory statements. They are directed to forthwith delete and/or remove the defamatory videos and defamatory contents", the order stated. .isThe suit filed through Parinam Associates emphasized that the defendants had also been posting incorrect information about the legal proceedings SII was involved in. Their sites were freely accessible without any prior subscription, SII added in its suit. SII elaborated that the individuals had been posting content alleging that the Covishield, a vaccine produced by SII to prevent the spread of COVID-19, was the cause of the deaths of multiple persons due to side effects. These posts not only targetted SII, but also its Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawala.On December 22, 2022, the High Court refused to grant immediate relief to Serum as there was paucity of time to hear the parties for relief..The defendants filed a reply through their lawyer’s Advocates Nilesh Ojha and Abhishek seeking dismissal of the suit They also filed a counter claim seeking prosecution of SII for making incorrect statements about the effects of the Covishield vaccine. The judge opined that the material relied upon by the defendants in support of their supposed defamatory statements is in no way germane to the cause of action in the present Suit."In view of the present Suit being a defamatory Suit, this Court is not called upon consider the issue as to whether the vaccines are bad and/or having harmful side effects. This issue arises in an independent Writ Petition/ Public Interest Litigation separately filed before this Court", the court held. .[Read order]