Zoho v. FlexyPe ₹10 crore defamation suit: Madras High Court refuses to order takedown of LinkedIn posts

The Madras High Court on Wednesday refused to grant immediate interim relief to Zoho Corporation in its dispute with FlexyPE Technologies over allegedly disparaging LinkedIn posts concerning Zoho Books.

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy declined Zoho’s request to have the posts removed or “screened” at this stage, observing that it was not yet clear whether the alleged discrepancies were attributable to Zoho’s software or to the payment gateway used by FlexyPe.

At the same time, the Court recorded the statement of FlexyPe and its co-founder Azeem Hussain that no further posts would be made on the issue until the next date of hearing.

The defendants also stated that they would tender an apology if it is established that the fault lay with the payment gateway provider and not Zoho.

The dispute arises from LinkedIn posts in which Hussain alleged serious discrepancies in Zoho Books, including failed transactions that were recorded as successful payments, leading to financial mismatches for his company.

Zoho filed a ₹10 crore defamation suit against FlexyPe and Hussain, in which the company has sought damages and injunctive relief over the posts.

Senior Advocate MS Krishnan, appearing for Zoho, argued that the posts used “very, very foul language” and wrongly attributed the issue to Zoho, when in fact the problem stemmed from incorrect payment status updates from a third-party payment gateway.

He submitted that Zoho’s system merely reflects data received from the gateway and does not independently process payments.

He urged the Court to at least direct that the posts be screened, pointing to reactions generated online and the reputational harm caused to Zoho.

The Court, however, was not inclined to grant such relief at this stage. It observed that if there is indeed a defect in a product, users are entitled to express their views and that businesses operating in the market must contend with both positive and negative feedback.

Itt indicated that if Zoho is able to establish, even prima facie, that the fault is not attributable to it, appropriate directions could be considered at a later stage.

The matter will be next heard on June 17.