ANI sues Wikipedia for ‘defamatory description’, seeks 2 crore in damages
New Delhi: Asian News International (ANI) has filed a law suit in Delhi High Court against Wikipedia for alleged defamatory content about the news agency. The agency has sought interim relief in the matter and Rupees two crores in damages, Deccan Herald reported on Tuesday July 9.
ANI’s plea has found fault with the description of the news agency in Wikipedia, which says that it “has been criticized for having served as a propaganda tool of the incumbent central government, distributing materials from a vast network of fake news websites and misreporting events”. The news agency wants the content be removed from the open encyclopedia’s page.
Advocate Sidhant Kumar, representing ANI, accused the Wikimedia Foundation of publishing false content about the news agency with an intention to harm its reputation and goodwill. Arguing that a platform for public utility cannot behave as a private sector, Kumar accused the Foundation of preventing any edits to the page on ANI by the news agency. Only Wikipedia’s own editors are allowed to make changes to the page now, he said.
ANI has strongly objected to the encyclopedia’s contents, based on articles published in other news outlets, which alleged that the news agency practiced “an aggressive model of journalism focused at maximum revenue output, where journalists were easily dispensable with. Multiple employees have accused ANI of not having any human resource management system and ill-treating their ex-employees”.
The Plea also objected to a detail in the Wikipedia page about the news agency falsely reporting that a Muslim man named Abdul Hilim, a member of an armed rebel group, was arrested by police for raping a Kuki woman during 2023 Manipur violence. It also accused Wikimedia Foundation of actively participating in removing the edits to the page to reverse the content.
Terming it “a pure case of defamation”, Justice Navin Chawla remarked that Wikipedia was entitled to its opinions and it would have to explain the matter before the court. A summons has been issued to Wikipedia demanding an explanation regarding the defamation suit. The next hearing of the case is scheduled for August 20.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
