The Delhi High Court granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction in a civil suit filed by a 15-year-old girl through her mother, seeking protection against online impersonation and circulation of morphed, obscene images. The suit has been filed against Meta Platforms Inc. (which operates Instagram) and several unnamed individuals responsible for creating fake accounts and misusing the minor’s identity.
The Single Judge Bench comprising of Justice Manoj Jain, while noting the sensitive nature of the case directed Meta (defendant no. 1) to immediately block and delete the objectionable URLs listed in the petition and provide Basic Subscriber Information (BSI), including IP details, of the perpetrators (defendants 2 to 6). The Court also restrained the unknown defendants from uploading or transmitting any further objectionable content involving the minor victim.
The Court observed that the plaintiff had made out a strong prima facie case, and that irreparable harm would be caused if prompt judicial intervention was not granted. The balance of convenience was also found to lie in the minor’s favour.
The matter has been listed next before the Joint Registrar on July 4, 2025, for procedural compliance, and before the Roster Bench on September 8, 2025.
The Court also directed the plaintiff to file an amended memo of parties once the BSI is provided and to take steps to serve the unnamed defendants accordingly.
Advocates Appearing in the case:
Petitioner: Through: Ms. Simran Brar, Mr. Raghav Awasthi, Ms. Ojaswa Pathak, Mr. Mukesh Sharma, Mr. Dinesh Sharma and Ms. Tanya Lal, Advocates
Respondent: Mr. Varun Pathak, Mr. Dhruv Bhatnagar and Ms. Nitya Nath, Advocates for R-1
Ms. Mamta Rani Jha, Ms. Shruttima Ehersa and Ms. Aiswarya Debadarshini, Advocates for R-8
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