Summons to Jack Ma and Alibaba

GURUGRAM: A Gurgaon court has summoned Chinese company Alibaba and its founder Jack Ma in a case filed by a former employee who alleges he was wrongfully fired after objecting to what he saw as censorship and fake news on company apps, documents seen by Reuters showed.

The case comes weeks after India cited security concerns in banning Alibaba's UC News, UC Browser and 57 other Chinese apps after a clash on the border.

Following the ban, India sought written answers from all affected companies, including whether they censored content or acted for any foreign government.

In court filings dated July 20 and previously not reported, the former employee of Alibaba's UC Web, Pushpandra Singh Parmar, alleges the company used to censor content seen as unfavourable to China and its apps showcased false news "to cause social and political turmoil".

Civil Judge Sonia Sheokand of a district court in Gurugram has issued 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, court documents showed.

UC India said in a statement 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. 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. Parmar, who worked as an associate director at the UC Web office in Gurugram until October 2017, is seeking Rs 2 crore (approx.) in damages. In more than 200 pages of court filings, reviewed by Reuters, the former employee has included clippings of some posts showcased on the UC News app that he alleged were false. One post from 2017 was headlined in Hindi: "2,000-rupee notes to be banned from midnight today". Another headline of a 2018 post said: "Just now: War broke out between India and Pakistan" and contained description of firing across the disputed border between the countries. Reuters could not independently verify the veracity of the claims in the court filing. India did not ban its 2,000-rupee currency note and no war occurred between India and Pakistan in 2018. The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi and China's foreign ministr y in Beijing, as well as India's IT ministr y in New Delhi, did not respond to requests for comment.