Mumbai, May 4: Anonymous emails and chain mails — a constant source of irritation for internet mail users — might become a thing of the past.
Tatas — the country’s leading business group — had unwittingly fallen victim to a chain mail that mentioned the Tata group and chairman Ratan Tata as one of the benefactors of an NGO, purportedly set up to carry out work among cancer victims in Karnataka.
A “path breaking order” of Delhi High Court, the Tata group says, has directed e-mail service provider MSN Hotmail to furnish the registration details of the account, which could help identify the sender of the mails.
The chain mail was put into circulation by unknown persons. The e-mail purports to be sent by an NGO working with labourers to treat cancer in Karnataka. It falsely claims the sponsorship of Ratan Tata and the Tata group and induces people to forward the mail to at least 10 more people.
The only information known about the entity is the e-mail address, unionagainstcancer@hotmail.com.
In an order, Justice C. K. Mahajan, has, through an interim injunction, restrained an unidentified defendant from claiming any kind of association or endorsement with the Tata group. This kind of order is known as the ‘John Doe’ order, wherein the unidentified defendant is sued under the name of ‘John Doe’ (‘Ashok Kumar’ in this case).
“This is basically our attempt to caution the public about this false and unknown chain mail. We want the public to be wary of any such entity misusing the Tata name and making false claims so that they do not help perpetuate the illegality by forwarding the e-mails to others,” says F. . Subedar, senior vice-president (finance) and company secretary, Tata Sons Limited.
This is the first time such an order has been granted in the online context in India, say legal experts.
In its plaint, Tata Sons relied on a number of previous cases in the US and Canada, wherein ‘John Doe’ orders were granted against anonymous persons making false and disparaging statements on bulletin boards and through e-mails.
Some years ago, the Tatas had to fight a case in the international court to register itself as the sole owner of the Tata website. The group found that a Tata website had sprung up that showed lewd photographs.
It is only after the courts intervened that the business group could launch its own website.