The High Court of Bombay on Monday granted interim relief to the Serum Institute of India (SII) in its defamation suit seeking damages to the tune of Rs 100 crore from organisations and individuals that allegedly posted erroneous content against the company.
The Single-Judge Bench of Justice R.I. Chagla temporarily restrained the defendants from publishing any defamatory content against SII and directed them to remove any content from website or social media accounts published so far against the company.
The defendants include Yohan Tengra, his organisation Anarchy for Freedom India, Ambar Koiri and his organisation Awaken India Movement.
Filed by Parinam Associates, the suit by SII alleged that the defendants had also been posting incorrect information about the legal proceedings involving the company. It said the sites of the defendants were freely accessible without any prior subscription.
The petition further contended that the individuals had been posting content alleging that the Covishield, a vaccine produced by SII to prevent the spread of Covid-19, was the cause of deaths of multiple persons due to side effects. It added that the posts not only targetted SII, but also its Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawala.