The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court on Sunday stated that the admins of WhatsApp groups could not be held responsible for illegal activities done by group members. The Bench said that there was no such provision in the law. The court was hearing a case filed by a woman, who had accused of WhatsApp group admin Kishore Tarone of neither removing, nor asking to apologise a group member who had made a post in the group that was offensive towards women. In her petition the woman had demanded action against Tarone for supporting the group member’s misconduct.
While hearing the case, the court held that Tarone had done nothing illegal. It was his right to add or remove any group member, but he could not control the personal behaviour of the group members. The court has also quashed FIR against Tarone saying that there was no such provision in the law that could hold him responsible for the behaviour of the group members. The High Court also clarified that action could be taken against the admin if the group admin and members came together and acted illegally in a planned manner.
