A local Gurgaon court has summoned over a dozen big wigs of Chinese company Alibaba including its founder Jack Ma in connection with a petition filed by a former employee who claimed he was wrongfully fired after allegedly objecting to 'censorship' and 'false news' on the company's apps.
Civil Judge Sonia Sheokand has issued a summons for Alibaba, Jack Ma and about a dozen individuals or company units, asking them to appear in court or through a lawyer on July 29, Reuters reported after viewing the related court documents. The court has also sought written responses from the company and its executives within 30 days.
The petitioner, Pushpandra Singh Parmar, worked as an associate director at the UC Web office in Gurugram until October 2017 and is seeking Rs 2 crore as damages. He has alleged that the company used to censor content seen as unfavourable to China in its UC browser and UC news apps. In addition, he claimed that 'false news' that was aimed at causing 'social and political turmoil' was often showcased on the apps. In his filing, the employee includes examples of such fake news stories, such as one about the Rs 2,000 note being banned, as well as a fake news story about India and Pakistan going to war, Reuters reported.
“In order to control any news related content to be published against China was automatically/manually rejected by an audit system evolved for this purpose,” the petition stated.
Parmar's lawyer Atul Ahlawat has refused to comment saying that the matter was sub-judice.
In a statement, UC India said it had been "unwavering in its commitment to the India market and the welfare of its local employees, and its policies are in compliance with local laws," adding, however, that it was "unable to comment on ongoing litigation".
The case comes weeks after India, citing security concerns, banned Alibaba's UC News, UC Browser and 57 other Chinese apps after a clash between the two country's forces on their border.
