JACK MA SUMMONED BY COURT

GURUGRAM: A district court in Gurugram has summoned Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma in a case where a former employee in India alleged he was fired after flagging what he saw as fake news on apps and platforms owned by the e-commerce giant.

NEW DELHI: A district court in Gurugram has summoned Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma in a case where a former employee in India alleged he was fired after flagging what he saw as fake news on apps and platforms owned by the Chinese e-commerce giant.

Pushpendra Singh Parmar of Ahmedabad, a former employee of Alibaba’s UC Web, filed a civil suit for wrongful termination against UC Web Mobile Private Limited on July 20. Parmar, 39, alleged the firm censored content seen as unfavourable to China and he was fired for flagging “fake news “that could cause “social and political turmoil”.

Civil judge Sonia Sheokand issued an order asking Alibaba, Ma, and about a dozen executives to appear before the court in person or through a lawyer at 10am on July 29 and also sought written responses from the company within 30 days. HT has a copy of the July 20 order.

Atul Ahlawat, Parmar’s lawyer, said his client repeatedly wrote to his seniors about “fake news” on general elections, communal riots and non-existent India-Pakistan clashes. “Fake news published by Alibaba attracted 130 million followers and their site had 1,550 sensitive words in favour of China and anti-India news,” he said. The suit seeks damages of ~2 crore.

Case comes weeks after India banned UC News, UC Browser and 57 other Chinese apps amid tensions between two countries.

UC India said in a statement it was “unwavering in its commitment to the India market and the welfare of its local employees, and its policies are in compliance with local laws. We are unable to comment on ongoing litigation”. Alibaba representatives did not respond to requests for comment from the Chinese company or on behalf of Jack Ma.