Google, Facebook get '15 days'

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A Delhi court on Monday asked 22 social networking websites to file their compliance report on removing objectionable contents within 15 days.

It fixed the next date of hearing for March 1.

The court in Rohini passed the order after the social networking websites asked for copies of CD's which contained objectionable content and had been filed by the petitioner.

Facebook India on Monday filed its compliance report before the court. Google India also told the court that it has removed certain web pages from the Internet on which objections were raised by the petitioners.

Meanwhile, Facebook, Yahoo and Microsoft told the court that they have no role to play in the case and there is no cause of action against them in the matter.

Additional Civil Judge Praveen Singh also posed a query to the counsel appearing for petitioner Mufti Aijaz Arshad Qasmi, as to whether the blog service-providing companies can be made a party to the case for any content posted by the users on the blogs.

The court also asked the petitioner to supply the copies of all the documents relied upon, to all the opposite parties.

The court also asked Google Inc as to why it was not coming up 'properly' with a reply and brushed aside its contention that it had received the copy of the judgement and other documents related to case only on last Friday.

"Why are you (Google Inc) not coming properly with your reply?" the court said.

"Don't tell me you have been served only on Friday. After all this hullabaloo that has been created in the last few months you should have been prepared," it stated.

The court had on December 20, 2011, in a ex-parte order issued summons to 22 social networking websites asking them to remove 'anti-religious' or 'anti-social' content in the form of photographs, videos or text which might hurt religious sentiments.

It had on December 24, 2011 set February 6, 2012 as the deadline for the websites for the same.