WhiteHat Jr withdraws Rs 20 Cr defamation suit against Pradeep Poonia

WhiteHat Jr and its founder Karan Bajaj have withdrawn a Rs 20 crore defamation suit filed in November 2020 against their critic Pradeep Poonia, in which it was alleged that Poonia had infringed their trademark, copyright along with invasion of privacy. 

“WhiteHatJr withdrew their case against me before Delhi High Court. This is a lesson that corporates like WhiteHatJr and Byjus, and social media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, Quora, and YouTube can't dictate terms,” Poonia told Entrackr.

A spokesperson for WhiteHat Jr confirmed the withdrawal of the suit against Poonia and declined to comment further on the development.

“I feel it's not just our right but our duty as well to fight for our freedom of speech. Whether it is the education sector or any other sector, whether you are a student, consumer, or parent, their employee or just a concerned citizen; the strength of your voice depends on your own perseverance,” Poonia added.

WhiteHat Jr founder Karan Bajaj and his company had also got an ad-interim injunction from the Delhi High Court in November last year against Poonia’s attack on them on social media and other online platforms. 

WhiteHat Jr had also filed a defamation suit in the Delhi High Court for Rs 14 crore against angel investor Anirudh Malpani for his alleged incessant campaigns on social media to defame the company. 

Over the past two years, Malpani has been writing against the alleged malpractices of WhiteHat Jr and its owner Byju’s on his social media accounts. Following his tirade against the two companies, LinkedIn had also restricted his account permanently last July.

The Delhi High Court had also given an ad-interim injunction to WhiteHat Jr against Malpani, and has restrained him from posting and publishing any derogatory and deprecatory content against WhiteHat Jr and its management.

The withdrawal of the defamation suit has been welcomed by many users on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.