Followed with issues related to WhatsaApp, Delhi High Court came up with a verdict which states that administrators of WhatsApp and other social networking services can’t be held accountable for defamation, in case the members on the group post rebelling or obscene messages.

Delhi High Court went on to say that, “It is not as if without the administrator’s approval of each of the statements, the statements cannot be posted by any of the members of the group on the said platform.”

The case regarding Whats App Group admis was filed by Ashish Bahlla, who was associated to a real estate firm against. He filed the case against Vishal Dubey who apparently was the administrator of the chat group. This happened because, various buyers of a particular housing project situated in Haryana went on to post messages on the group chat, since they didn’t receive possession on time and went on to get delayed. There were many messages that were pointed direct to Ashish Bhalla, who then moved to the court accusing the group members of maligning his image and defaming him, even when he was no longer a part of the housing project.

The suit filed by Ashish Bahlla asked for permanent injunction against all the members in the group chat from posting against him and also sorted monetary damages.

Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, the single-judge bench, dismissed the defamation case that held administrator accountable and went on to say, “I am unable to understand as to how the administrator of a group can be held liable for defamation, even if any, by the statements made by a member of the group. To make an administrator of an online platform liable for defamation would be like making the manufacturer of the newsprint on which defamatory statements are published liable for defamation.”

He further went on to specify that an administrator on an online chat group can only advise affiliates to abstain from posting contents that are objectionable. Sahai Endlaw went on to say that ,“When an online platform is created, the creator thereof cannot expect any of the members thereof to indulge in defamation, and defamatory statements made by any member of the group cannot make the administrator liable”.