New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a contempt notice to Wikipedia in the matter of Wikipedia's description of a news agency as a "propaganda tool of the government".
A bench comprising Justice Naveen Chawla said that if the court's orders are not followed, it will strictly deal with the issue. The court posted the matter for October 25 and ordered that the representative of Wikipedia should appear before it.
The news agency, which filed a defamation case against Wikipedia, had contended, "Information has been given on the Wikipedia website that we are a propaganda tool of the government".
On this, the High Court had ordered Wikipedia to disclose the user who wrote this information, but Wikipedia did not disclose the user. During the hearing on Thursday, the High Court lashed out at Wikipedia for not following its previous order.
During the hearing, Wikipedia said that its headquarters is not in India. On this, the High Court said, "your headquarters is not in India, it does not make any sense. We will consider requesting the government to close your business in India. If you do not follow the law of the country, then you should not work here."
The news agency had contended that the description by Wikipedia was tarnishing its image. Advocate Siddhant Kumar, appearing on behalf of the news agency, demanded that the identity of the user who posted such details about it be disclosed.
Advocate Tine Abraham, representing Wikipedia, said that the user edits any information. On this, the High Court said that despite this, Wikipedia cannot escape its responsibility. The High Court made it clear that Wikipedia will have to follow the law of the country.
