Red Chillies Entertainment has moved the Delhi High Court to request the immediate suspension and deactivation of WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels that are illegally sharing their latest blockbuster, Jawan.
The court has directed WhatsApp, Telegram, and several mobile network operators, including Airtel, Idea-Vodafone, Reliance Jio, and BSNL, to disclose the subscriber information of phone numbers that are operating these accounts. This includes the names and addresses of the users, so that legal action can be taken against them if necessary.
The court has directed Meta Platforms Inc., the company that owns WhatsApp, to take immediate action to close down the groups being operated by persons both in India and overseas that were identified by Red Chillies in its application.
Pradeep Nimani, CFO, Red chillies Entertainment, said, “Piracy is a huge issue plaguing our industry, to combat that we have hired several anti-piracy agencies and agents who are acting as users searching for pirated copies of the film on WhatsApp, Telegram and social media platforms and reporting the pirates, which helped us identify one person named Rohit Sharma including several others who are illegally circulating copies of the film.”
Red Chillies has filed a police complaint with Santacruz police station in Mumbai against Rohit Sharma and others who are illegally circulating copies of their film. It is expected that the police will take action in the coming days, and there is a possibility that those identified as responsible for the unauthorized distribution of the film could be arrested according to the court order.
The court has issued a strong order against Rohit Sharma, who has been identified by Red Chillies as illegally selling copies of their film for a paltry sum through WhatsApp. The court has directed for his WhatsApp number to be deactivated and for his WhatsApp group, Facebook, and Instagram pages to be taken down. Similar actions are likely to be taken against the administrators of other WhatsApp groups and Telegram channels once they are identified.
The Delhi High Court has issued a follow-up order in the ‘John Doe’ case filed by Red Chillies earlier this year. The court has directed additional websites, identified in the application, to take down pirated copies of the film that they were found to be hosting.
Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao and Advocate Nizam Pasha, along with DSK Legal Partners Chandrima Mitra and Parag Khandhar, represented Red Chillies in the Delhi High Court.