Hepatologist moves Karnataka High Court against suspension of TheLiverDoc X (Twitter) account

Hepatologist (liver doctor) and Twitter celebrity Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, who went by the handle TheLiverDoc, moved the Karnataka High Court against an ex-parte order of a Bengaluru court, which directed social media platform X Corp (formerly called Twitter) to suspend his account. 

Filed on Friday by Dr Philips against pharmaceutical company Himalaya Wellness and X Corp, the petition is likely to be mentioned before the single-judge bench of Justice S.G. Pandit on Monday for early hearing.

The Indian clinical scientist, known for his critical views of alternative medicine on social media, had challenged the September 23 order of Additional City Civil and Session Judge D.P. Kumaraswamy, which held that an interim order before issuing notice to Philips was necessary.

The ACCSJ passed the order on two interlocutory applications filed by Himalaya Wellness in a defamation suit against Philips.

The petitions sought a temporary injunction order against Philips, restraining him from making defamatory statements against the company as well as an order to X Corp to temporarily withhold his account from the platform.

The pharmaceutical major alleged that Dr Philips was posting the material in order to promote the products of other pharmaceutical companies such as Cipla and Alchem.

The civil court observed that a reading of the judgments of the Supreme Court and a few High Courts would sensitise one to the gravity of the consequences of such material being posted on the platform.

It further noted that the verdicts indicated that there was a need to issue an ad-interim ex-parte injunction directing parties like Philips to remove the posted material at the earliest so as to minimise damage in the form of loss of reputation, loss of income in monetary terms and disservice to the consumers.