[Cites 1, Cited by 0]
Bombay High Court
Pantomath Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd vs Unknown Person (John Doe) on 29 January, 2026
Author: Milind N. Jadhav
Bench: Milind N. Jadhav
P9.SL.34088.2025+.doc
HARSHADA H. SAWANT
(P.A.)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
SUIT (L) NO.34088 OF 2025
WITH
INTERIM APPLICATION (L) NO.34091 OF 2025
Pantomath Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd. .. Plaintiff
Versus
Unknown Person (John Doe) and Ors. .. Defendants
....................
Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud a/w. Ms. Tejal Patel and Mr. Rahul
Singh, Advocates for Plaintiff.
...................
CORAM : MILIND N. JADHAV, J.
DATE : JANUARY 29, 2026
P.C.:
1. Not on Board. Mentioned by way of filing praecipe dated
29.01.2026. Perused the praecipe.
2. Heard Dr. Chandrachud, learned Advocate for Plaintiff.
3. Plaintiff has filed present Suit seeking immediate indulgence
of the Court in respect of reliefs prayed for under the provisions of
Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and the Information Technology Act,
2000 against private Defendants namely Defendant No.1. Defendant
No.1 is John Doe / Ashok Kumar contemplated and identified in the
Suit plaint through various emails created through Proton AG
website / Application originating from beyond the territorial
jurisdiction of this Country. Defendant No.1 has addressed several
emails to Plaintiff and Securities and Exchange Board of India (for
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short 'SEBI') (to the knowledge of Plaintiff) contending that he is a
whistle blower and has communicated, published, distributed various
defamatory, threatening, false and malicious allegations concerning
working of the Plaintiff - Company, its management, its operations and
its operations and functioning with SEBI.
4. To buttress the case of Plaintiff Dr. Chandrachud has drawn
my attention to the first email dated 16.08.2025 appended at page
No.23 of the Suit plaint followed by subsequent emails dated
16.09.2025 appended at page No.25 and 15.10.2025 appended at
page No.28. Prima facie perusing contents of these emails, it is seen
that contents of same prima facie threaten the Plaintiff and its
activities as also maliciously malign the reputation of the Plaintiff -
Company. The emails are not substantiated at all. These emails are
also endrosed to SEBI as can be seen from the record of the case.
5. Defendant No.1 does not stop at this only. Dr. Chandrachud
has draw my attention to page No.31 which are transcripts of
whatsapp messages which are sent on whatsapp Application / website
to the Managing Directors / Directors of Plaintiff.
6. Prima facie, reading of the said material shows the malicious
tirade embarked upon by Defendant No.1 accusing Plaintiff - Company
of committing fraud and calling for investigation. Once again the said
messages are not substantiated and are merely messages sent on
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whatsapp. The Suit was filed on 17.10.2025. However before filing of
the Suit proceedings being concerned the Plaintiff approached the
Investigating Authorities by a detailed complaint dated 09.09.2025 to
the Suit plaint. Acting on the said complaint, Plaintiff also received
response from the said Investigating Authority and during their
meeting it was informed to them that concerned emails are emanating
from Switzerland through the website / Application - Proton AG.
7. Dr. Chandrachud would immediately draw my attention to
the fact in the case of M/s. Moser Design Associates (India) Private
Limited V/s. State of Karnataka and Ors. 1 Court has taken cognizance
of emails originating from said Proton AG Website / Application and
has passed certain directions to block the said Website / Application
Proton AG email id due to serious reasons as stated in that decision.
8. In the present case, it is seen that the emails are received by
Plaintiff from the email id : [email protected]
whereas whatsapp messages are received from unknown number
beginning with the prefix +44 7818. Prima facie, +44 7818 appears
to be originating from United Kingdom.
9. Be that as it may, Defendant No.5 which is the Indian
Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) through its Nodal Officer under
Ministry of Home Affairs shall take appropriate steps in accordance
1 Writ Petition No.2358 of 2025 (GM-RES) decided on 29.04.2025.
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with law and orders passed by this Court.
10. Plaintiff in their Suit plaint have identified Defendant No.1
to be John Doe / unknown person and operating through aforesaid
email id [email protected] whereas Defendant
No.2 is Proton AG, the email service provider incorporated in
Switzerland which operates the email id 'Proton AG' used by
Defendant No.1. Defendant Nos.3 to 5 are functionaries of the
Government.
11. After going through the aforesaid material with the able
assistance of Dr. Chandrachud, I am of prima facie opinion that the
campaign sought to be run by Defendant No.1 is on face of record
malicious, unsubstantiated and undoubtedly affects the reputation of
the Plaintiff. Plaintiff is governed by various regulatory norms of the
SEBI which according to Plaintiff they have been duly observing in all
their operations.
12. Dr. Chandrachud clarifies the position that SEBI has not
taken any action whatsoever against Plaintiff and the Plaintiff
maintains the highest standards of transparency and ethics as required
by the policy makers and the regulator in accordance with law in all its
operations, filing and dealings.
13. In view of the above, Plaintiff has made out an arguable case
for immediate grant of ad-interim relief in terms of prayer clauses (a)
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to (d) of the Interim Application which read thus:-
"a) Pending the hearing of the present suit this Hon'ble Court be
pleased to Pass interim Injunction restraining Defendant
no.1(John Doe), his agents, representatives, or any person acting
on his behalf, from communicating, publishing, distributing,
circulating, or disseminating in any manner the defamatory,
threatening, false, or malicious allegations concerning the
Plaintiff and its management in any medium, including print,
electronic, or social media;
b) Pending the hearing of the present suit this Hon'ble Court be
pleased to Pass interim Injunction directing Defendant no.2
(Proton AG) to forthwith disclose to this Hon'ble Court in a
sealed cover all subscriber information, user details, contact
details, user logs, IP addresses with timestamps, registration
data, and all other relevant information pertaining to the user(s)
of the email ID [email protected]. This
disclosure should include, but not be limited to, the contents of
all emails sent from the said email address, logs of all activities
associated with the account, and any other data that may assist
in identifying the perpetrator(s) and evidencing the defamatory
acts committed by Defendant No.1;
c) Pending the hearing of the present suit this Hon'ble Court be
pleased to Pass interim Injunction against defendants and more
specifically Defendant No. 2 (Proton AG) to forthwith remove,
delete, block, or otherwise restrain access to any and all content,
emails, or publications containing the defamatory and
threatening material originating from Defendant No.1;
d) That this Hon'ble Court be pleased to Pass a interim injunction
directing Defendants No.3, 4, and 5 to take all necessary steps,
including issuing requisite directions and notifications, to ensure
compliance by Defendant No.2 with the orders passed by this
Hon'ble Court for disclosure of information and removal/blocking
of defamatory content. "
14. Hence, issue notice to Defendants.
15. Humdast permitted. In addition to Court's notice, Plaintiff is
directed to serve the Defendants a copy of this order and copy of Suit
and Interim Application and inform about the next date of hearing by
any permissible mode of service and file appropriate affidavit of service
with tangible proof thereof.
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16. Defendants are directed to file their Affidavit-in-Reply before
the next date with an advance copy to Advocate for Plaintiff.
17. Liberty to apply for further orders is granted to Plaintiff on
compliance of the above order.
18. Stand over to 11th February, 2026.
H. H. SAWANT [ MILIND N. JADHAV, J. ]
HARSHADA by HARSHADA
HANUMANT
HANUMANT SAWANT
SAWANT Date: 2026.01.29
18:35:34 +0530
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