Today, the Delhi High Court grants Wikipedia to serve summons to users accused of inserting allegedly defamatory statements on the Wikipedia page of Asian News International (ANI).

A Bench consisting of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order while disposing of an appeal filed by Wikipedia, challenging a single-judge's ruling that directed the platform to disclose the identities of users.

To protect user privacy, Wikipedia had previously agreed to provide user information to the Court and volunteered to serve summons for ANI's defamation suit. Both ANI and Wikipedia were instructed to draft a consent order, which, once submitted, led to the Division Bench disposing of the appeal.

"I think we have made a lot of progress here. People have got identified in the process, they will be served within a week. What else can be there," the Court said while refusing to entertain other arguments being raised by the ANI.

This development ensures the protection of user privacy while still holding them accountable in legal proceedings. It marks a rare instance where an intermediary like Wikipedia is tasked with serving summons on the defendants—its platform users—rather than the plaintiff or the Court.

During a recent hearing, Advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing ANI, referred to an Open Letter from a user to Wikipedia regarding the case. ANI claimed that one of the signatories of the letter, who is an editor on Wikipedia, would be summoned in the defamation suit. The letter allegedly contained comments criticizing the judges handling the matter, claiming that the Delhi High Court was not neutral.

In response, Justice Manmohan remarked, "Every day you go to social media, you will find all this." Advocate Kumar clarified that his role was simply to inform the Court. Justice Gedela added, "We can’t be defined by somebody who has his own views… We can’t either get moved by this or cowed by it. It is okay. People will have different perspectives of us."

ANI has filed a defamation suit before the High Court, accusing Wikipedia of allowing defamatory edits on its page. The matter is currently pending before a single-judge bench. With Wikipedia agreeing to serve the summons to the users in question, the suit will now proceed with a hearing on interim relief.

Before the single-judge bench, ANI had requested the removal of the defamatory edits on its Wikipedia page. In July, the Court issued a summons to Wikipedia, ordering it to disclose information about three individuals who made the controversial edits. When ANI later complained that Wikipedia had failed to comply with the directive, Justice Navin Chawla expressed strong disapproval and issued a notice for contempt of court. The single-judge bench also ordered an authorized representative of Wikipedia to appear in court on October 25 for the contempt case.

These directives were challenged by Wikipedia before the Division Bench, which had previously expressed dissatisfaction with the platform's reluctance to disclose user information regarding the defamatory edits on ANI's page.