Reviews on Google do not have a value of evidence: HC

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A businessman who blamed the war in Ukraine for not supplying liquid paraffin to his customer has been allowed to surrender and bail was granted to him by the High Court of Karnataka. He faced a criminal case for failing to supply half of the promised supply of the chemical to a lamp oil manufacturer.

In the case, the HC also noted that reviews posted about a business on Google do not have the value of evidence in court. Om Pratap Singh, a resident of Mumbai, approached the High Court of Karnataka with a criminal petition.

The Cyber and Economic Wing Crime police station, Ramanagara had registered a complaint against him under the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for cheating. He sought anticipatory bail in the case. The case is currently pending before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Magadi, Ramanagara.

A businesswoman who is a manufacturer of lamp oil had filed a complaint on July 13, 2022. She required liquid paraffin and searched for a supplier online. She came in contact with Singh and paid him Rs 52,39,400 in two installments online. Singh supplied goods worth Rs 26,31,611 and allegedly did not supply goods for the remaining Rs 26,07,800.

When he did not respond, she filed a complaint with the police. Singh’s advocate contended that he has no intention of cheating and “he has to get the goods from the foreign country and due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, there is delay in supply of the consignment to him and as such he could not supply the goods to the complainant.”

He also further returned Rs 8 lakh to the complainant. The government advocate opposed the bail on the grounds that Singh has cheated others as well and it can be gleaned from the reviews on his business that is posted online. However the HC rejected this claim.

“The argument addressed by the learned HCGP that the Google search discloses that the petitioner has cheated a number of persons which is evident from the review, cannot be accepted as it does not have any legal evidentiary value,” Justice Rajendra Badamikar said in his judgement.

The HC granted bail to Singh saying, “Looking at these facts and circumstances, I do not find any impediment to admit the petitioner for anticipatory bail and the apprehension raised by the learned HCGP can be meted out by imposing certain conditions.”

Singh was ordered to execute a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh and mark his attendance before the investigating officer on the first Monday of every month until the final report on the case is submitted by the police.