The Karnataka High Court, under the jurisdiction of Justice SG Pandit, has made alterations to a prior trial court decision that resulted in the suspension of Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips’ Twitter account, ‘@theliverdr’. This move was initiated after Dr. Philips sought intervention from the High Court in light of his account’s suspension, a consequence of a defamation suit filed by the pharmaceutical and wellness company, Himalaya Wellness.
Himalaya Wellness argued that Dr. Philips had consistently posted remarks they considered derogatory against their products, leading, in their view, to considerable business setbacks. Responding to these claims, Dr. Philips’ counsel, Senior Advocate Aditya Sondhi, clarified that any commitment to hide the alleged defamatory tweets is without prejudice to his contentions. Sondhi was quoted saying,
“This Liv52 product is banned in US.”
He further elaborated,
“I am not conceding (that tweets are defamatory), this Liv52 (Himalaya’s product) has been banned by the authorities in the US… Till your Lordships are considering the writ, if your Lordships would ask me to keep these offending tweets hidden and stay the directions, I’m in your Lordship’s hands.”
The initial suspension of Dr. Philips’ account ‘@theliverdr’ was decreed by a Civil Court in response to the defamation suit initiated by Himalaya. This court order also restricted him from tweeting or disseminating any remarks that could be construed as defamatory against the Himalaya Wellness Corporation. Challenging this directive, Sondhi remarked,
“This amount of disproportionate order could not have been passed by the trial court. Could my entire account be suspended?”
Himalaya Wellness, represented by Senior Advocate Uday Holla, staunchly maintains that the statements made by Dr. Philips are both false and unjustified. They further allege that his underlying motive is to endorse products from rival companies, notably Cipla and Alchem.
In light of these developments, the High Court indicated its inclination to provide interim relief, provided Dr. Philips consented to remove all tweets deemed derogatory. Following Sondhi’s agreement, the court explicitly ordered,
“Petitioner undertakes to hide the offending tweets so far as respondent 1/plaintiff (Himalaya) and its products. The said undertaking is placed on record. [Trial court] Order to that extent is modified.”
The case is set for a subsequent hearing on November 2, with the court also dispatching a notice to X Corp.