The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to give any relief to YouTube and Google in connection with a civil suit filed by Lebara Foundation against a person for uploading defamatory content.

The person is the uploader of video titled Marupakkam seithigal and Lebara is pushing to sue the person for offensive material.

The First Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R. Mahadevan dismissed the appeal filed by both YouTube and Google and directed them to disclose the IP address and other details of the uploader. YouTube and Google however, maintained that the user details could not be disclosed as per Indian law. 

The High Court said, “The learned Single Judge has noticed, and in our view rightly so, that it is not some secret information affecting such personal rights of the undisclosed author of Marupakkam Seithigal which are sought to be made available in pursuance of the directions of the Court, but only the identity and address so that the Court can take appropriate process to determine the rights of the Lebara Foundation which filed the defamation suit and the author of Marupakkam Seithigal. The minimal assistance required for mitigating a civil wrong of Marupakkam is furnishing the information."

The Lebara Foundation had filed a civil suit to remove the video titled “Marupakkam Seithigal” on the Youtube website and also sought for a permanent injunction restraining them from uploading the defamatory material.  While YouTube complied with the order of the Court and denied access to the defamatory video in India, it is yet to disclose the IP address of the author.