FACEBOOK INDIA LTD Vs. RAJESH DUSEJA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present revision petition is filed against the impugned order dated 24.05.2018 passed by the Additional District Judge, Amritsar, dismissing the application filed by the petitioner under Order 1 Rule 10 CPC seeking deletion of his name from the array of parties in suit No. 16 of 2016 as defendant No.4.

(2.) Respondent No.l initiated the suit against the petitioner and other defendants seeking relief of permanent injunction, damages and rendition of the defendants' accounts for infringement of his copyright over his literary works. Respondent No.l further claimed that his literary work was being made available for sale on various websites, including the website and applications for mobile devices and tablets ("Facebook Service"), in an authorized manner.

(3.) An application was filed by the petitioner for deletion of his name from the array of parties on the ground that the petitioner, namely, "Facebook India Ltd." was not responsible for hosting the content, that appeared on the Facebook service or any website, and does not operate or control the Facebook service. It has no authority to comply with any order passed by the trial Court in relation to the suit. However, the application was dismissed on the ground that the petitioner - Facebook India Ltd. was an Indian arm of defendant No.3 to the suit that Facebook INC which is a company incorporated in the United States of America. Secondly, the respondent had been duly served with a notice, but still he continued to violate the copyright. Since, the prayer was for rendition of accounts regarding sale of the respondent's book, the respondent's name cannot be deleted simply on the ground that it had no control or was not in a position to operate the Facebook service.