Court rejects plea against Microsoft, fines petitioner

A complaint against Microsoft for allegedly displaying objectionable content on its website was rejected by a Delhi court Thursday. A Rs.5,000 fine was also slapped on the petitioner.

Administrative Civil Judge Praveen Singh was hearing a petition by Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi, an Islamic researcher linked to a website run by the Islamic Peace Foundation of India, who sought the removal of “objectionable content” from around 20 websites.

Microsoft told the court during the hearing that there was no defamatory material posted on its websites.

During the proceeding, the court heard the arguments of Microsoft and Yahoo India, which also has been named by Qasmi among the 20 websites and social networking sites.

Yahoo India termed the suit “motivated”. On March 5, the court would give its decision on Yahoo India’s plea that the complaint against it should be rejected.

The other companies named by Qasmi in his complaint will continue to face trial. A few companies, including Facebook and Google India, have already filed their statements in court.

Facebook Feb 28 told the court that the case was filed against it with “ulterior motives”. It requested the court to remove its name from the case.