Bombay High Court refuses to entertain Zilingo co-founder defamation suit against NDTV, Inc42 journalist

The Bombay High Court recently ruled that it has no jurisdiction to hear a defamation suit filed by Zilingo co-founder Ankiti Bose against Inc42 journalist Nikhil Subramaniam and a digital media subsidiary of NDTV Networks. [Ankiti Bose v. Nikhil Subramanium & Ors.].Justice SM Modak also observed that there appeared to be an inconsistency in Bose's pleadings regarding the cause of action."The averments made in the Petition are not part of the Plaint averment. So, for all these reasons, the claim for grant of leave cannot be considered. I have not gone into the merits of those averments. So, I do not think that case for grant of leave is made out. I have taken this view for the circumstances mentioned above. So, Leave Petition fails," the order stated. Accordingly, the judge ordered for the plaint to be returned to Bose so that she may present it before the appropriate court. .Bose, who was chief executive officer (CEO) of Zilingo, was suspended in March 2022 amidst investigations into the company's financial irregularities.Following her suspension, Bose claimed that attempts were being made to remove her from the company, which itself entered into liquidation this January.In April 2023, Subramaniam authored an article titled Zilingo’s Collapse: Inside Ankiti Bose’s Multimillion-Dollar Implosion, which allegedly made defamatory statements against Bose. The article was published on the Inc42 website. The article prompted Bose to approach the High Court with a defamation suit on July 31, 2023..Bose also arraigned NDTV Convergence as a respondent in the suit, claiming that a part of Subramniam's article was carried on the NDTV website, which had allegedly caused damage to her reputation and standing in public.She sought an order to restrain the respondents from posting anything against her, as well as a declaration from the Court that the reports were defamatory..She also filed a petition under clause XII of the Bombay High Court (Original Side) Rules for permission to proceed with the suit in Mumbai, considering that her friends and family read the allegedly objectionable articles in the city..Counsel appearing for Subramaniam and NDTV, however, argued that they were residents of Delhi and that the cause of action did not arise in Mumbai. They also alleged that the clauses in the suit and in the leave petition filed by Bose were at variance with each other. While the suit claimed that the entire cause of action arose within the territorial jurisdiction of the High Court, the leave petition claimed that only a part of the cause of action arose in Mumbai, they argued.At this point, Bose filed an application seeking to amend the suit, which, amongst other things, also included a prayer to remove the clause "entire cause of action has arisen within the jurisdiction of this court" from the plaint..The Court agreed with the respondents and noted that there was no explanation offered by Bose to make a subsequent prayer for the amendment in the suit. "I agree with the submissions of Defendants Counsel that there is variance in between the averments in the (suit) plaint and the (leave) petition. There is every reason to believe that this pleading in Petition is made after the Defendants have taken an objection to the jurisdiction of this Court. It gains importance. There is no explanation offered by the subsequent averment was not taken when the Suit was filed," the Court observed, before declining permission to proceed with the suit in Mumbai. .Bose is at liberty to approach the appropriate court that has territorial jurisdiction, the Court added..Advocates Amir Arsiwala, Monika Tanna, Ritika Panchamia and Dhara Modi, briefed by Singhania Legal Services, appeared for Bose.Advocates Mayur Khandeparkar, Himanshu Gupta, Vikramjit Garewal, Sanidhya Arora and Jay Bharadwaj, briefed by GDC Legal Consultants LLP, appeared for Subramniam and Inc42. Advocates Hiren Kamod, Zahra Padamsee, Kyle Curry and Jay Vyas, briefed by Vashi and Vashi, appeared for NDTV Convergence..[Read order]