Bombay High Court
Malcolm Siganporia vs Silloo Lala And 6 Ors on 5 February, 2026
Author: Milind N. Jadhav
Bench: Milind N. Jadhav
P4.IAL.4042.2026.doc
HARSHADA H. SAWANT
(P.A.)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
INTERIM APPLICATION (L) NO.4042 OF 2026
IN
SUIT (L) NO.4038 OF 2026
Malcolm Siganporia .. Applicant
Versus
Silloo Lala and Ors. .. Respondents
IN THE MATER OF:
Parsee Central Association Cooperative Housing
Ltd. and Anr. .. Plaintiffs
Versus
Silloo Lala and Ors. .. Defendants
....................
Mr. Karl Tamboly a/w. Mr. Hrushi Narvekar, Mr. Shlok Parekh, Ms.
Pranita Saboo and Mr. Avesh Ganja, Advocates i/by Satyaki Law
Associates for Applicant / Plaintiffs.
Mr. Chanakya Keswani a/w. Minhas Joshi, Advocates i/by
Economic Law Practice for Defendant No.4.
Mr. Rishabh Jaisani a/w. Mr. Harit Lakhani and Mr. Abhishek
Mookherjee, Advocates i/by Shardul A. Mangaldas for Defendant
No.5.
...................
CORAM : MILIND N. JADHAV, J.
DATE : FEBRUARY 05, 2026
P.C.:
1. Not on Board. Mentioned by way of filing praecipe dated 05.02.2026. Perused the praecipe.
2. Heard Mr. Tamboly, learned Advocate for Applicant / Plaintiffss; Mr. Keswani, learned Advocate for Defendant No.4 and Mr. Jaisani, learned Advocate for Defendant No.5.
3. At the outset Mr. Tamboly would persuade the Court to 1 of 6 ::: Uploaded on - 05/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 05/02/2026 20:51:37 ::: P4.IAL.4042.2026.doc implead Whatsapp LLC as Defendant in Suit. Necessary amendment of impleading Whatsapp LLC in the suit as party is allowed and permitted to be carried out in Interim Application and Suit proceedings within a period of one week from today. Reverification stands dispensed with. Parties shall be served with amended copy of suit plaint.
4. Plaintiff before me is a Cooperative Housing Society by the name Parsee Central Association Co-operative Housing Society Limited. Plaintiff No.2 is the Trustee and Committee Member of the Association / Society. He is also a practicing Advocate in this Court. This matter was mentioned yesterday i.e. 04.02.2026 at the time of rising seeking urgent indulgence since Suit was being lodged at that time. Leave was granted to mention the matter today morning in view of exigency expressed and voiced by Mr. Tamboly.
5. Suit is filed for a decree of permanent injunction restraining Defendant Nos.1 to 3 and their representatives / employees, from writing and from posting allegations on electronic media namely Facebook, which are according to Plaintiff per se defamatory about Plaintiffs' conduct, inter alia, the issue between the parties.
6. To buttress the principal relief, Mr. Tamboly has drawn my attention to page No.70 of the Suit plaint. On page Nos.70 to 74 is the facebook and whatsapp posts which are posted by Defendant No.2, the grandson of Defendant No.1 (who is the tenant of Plaintiff No.1).
2 of 6 ::: Uploaded on - 05/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 05/02/2026 20:51:37 ::: P4.IAL.4042.2026.doc
7. Averments with appropriate and substantiated evidence show that there is a decree passed for eviction in RAE Suit No.996 of 2023 by Small Causes Court against Defendant No.1 which is a Consent Decree. All papers are appended and annexed. I have perused the same.
8. Mr. Tamboly would submit that abiding by the Consent Decree between parties Defendant No.1 negotiated for surrender of the subject premises in lieu of accepting Rs.43 Lakhs in exchange of her handing over possession of the subject premises to Plaintiff No.1. Cause of action which seeks immediate intervention of the Court is stated in paragraph Nos.17 and 18 of the Suit plaint. Outburst of Defendant Nos.1 and 2 is in respect of the aforesaid issues being the reason for which present Suit is filed qua the facebook post appended at page No.72 and whatsapp messages at page Nos.73 and 74.
9. Prima facie, after perusing the said posts it is seen that serious defamatory allegations and insinuations per se are made against Plaintiffs but what is seen that Plaintiff No.2 as well as office bearers of Plaintiff No.1 and all trustees have been dragged into it the accusing the Plaintiffs of committing a scam.
10. Mr. Tamboly would submit that these posts have been further disseminated leading to inviting backlash on the Committee Members of the Society accusing them of committing a scam and 3 of 6 ::: Uploaded on - 05/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 05/02/2026 20:51:37 ::: P4.IAL.4042.2026.doc abusing senior citizens which is serious. Plaintiff No.1 - Society has taken appropriate steps for filing complaint with the law enforcement agency, details of which are placed on record. The immediate grievance of Plaintiffs is that considering the reputation of Plaintiff No.1 having worked for several orders for the benefit of Parsee Zoroastrian Committee, the aforesaid defamatory posts have invited a severe backlash on social media platforms bringing hundreds of comments, harm and reputation to the Plaintiffs, including Plaintiff No.2 who is a practicing Advocate at the bar of this Court.
11. Plaintiffs and their Committee members are also made answerable to innumerable posts and phone calls on various platforms due to imputation of allegations of moral turpitude, criminal conduct and thus this directly attacks the public and professional conduct of the Plaintiff No.2 in his professional capacity.
12. After going through the above, I agree with the submissions made by Mr. Tamboly. In that view of the matter after perusing the record, Mr. Tamboly has made out an arguable case for grant of interim relief in terms of prayer clauses (a), (c) and (d) of the Interim Application which read thus:-
"a. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Suit, grant a temporary injunction restraining Respondent Nos.1 to 3, their agents, relatives, representatives, servants, associates or any person claiming through or under them from publishing, posting, uploading, circulating, sharing, forwarding or otherwise disseminating any false, defamatory, misleading or disparaging 4 of 6 ::: Uploaded on - 05/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 05/02/2026 20:51:37 ::: P4.IAL.4042.2026.doc statements, posts, messages, videos or content of any nature whatsoever against the Applicants on any social media platform, electronic media, print media or digital medium; c. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Suit, direct Respondent Nos.4 and 5 to prevent any further re-upload, re- circulation, re-publication or dissemination of the impugned defamatory content or any substantially similar content against the Applicants on their platforms;
d. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Suit, restrain Respondent Nos.1 to 3 from directly or indirectly making any allegations imputing professional misconduct, illegality, abuse of authority or unethical conduct against Applicant No.2, including threats of complaints to statutory or professional bodies."
13. According prayer clauses (a), (c) and (d) of the Interim Application (Lodging) No.4042 of 2026 are granted and allowed. Plaintiffs are directed to inform the URLs of posts appended at page Nos.70 to 74 which are the contentious posts which are examined by Court to the concerned Defendants for effecting compliance.
14. In so far as prayer clause (b) of the Interim Application is concerned, direction is given to Defendant Nos.4 and 5 to comply with the same once the URLs of the two posts are received from the Plaintiff. Ad-interim order is also allowed in terms of prayer clause (b) which reads thus:-
"b. Pending the hearing and final disposal of the Suit, grant a mandatory injunction directing Respondent Nos.4 and 5, their officers and agents, to forthwith take down, remove, disable access to, block and/or restrict visibility of all defamatory posts, messages, content, links, URLs, images and publications uploaded, posted or circulated by Respondent Nos.1 to 3 concerning the Applicants on platforms operated, owned or controlled by Respondent Nos.4 and 5; "
15. In view of the above, issue notice to Respondents.
5 of 6 ::: Uploaded on - 05/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 05/02/2026 20:51:37 ::: P4.IAL.4042.2026.doc
16. Humdast permitted. In addition to Court's notice, Applicant is directed to serve the Respondents a copy of this order and copy of Interim Application and Suit and inform about the next date of hearing by any permissible mode of service and file appropriate affidavit of service with tangible proof thereof.
17. Respondents / Defendants who have entered appearance on notice today, waive service.
18. I am informed that Defendant Nos.1 to 3 have been given notice of today's mentioning and served an Affidavit of service. They have chosen not to appear.
19. Needless to state that this order will also apply to the newly impleaded Defendant for effecting compliance.
20. Liberty to apply.
21. Stand over to 18th February, 2026.
22. Praecipe is disposed.
H. H. SAWANT [ MILIND N. JADHAV, J. ] Digitally signed by HARSHADA HARSHADA HANUMANT HANUMANT SAWANT SAWANT Date: 2026.02.05 18:42:42 +0530 6 of 6 ::: Uploaded on - 05/02/2026 ::: Downloaded on - 05/02/2026 20:51:37 :::