J-K govt summons FB India head to appear in person in online cheating case

J&K govt summoned the Facebook India managing director and other officials to appear before the adjudicating officer on November 12 in connection with a complaint of an alleged online cheating case

The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday summoned the Facebook India managing director and other officials to appear before the adjudicating officer on November 12 in connection with a complaint of an alleged online cheating case.

Orders for appearance in person against Ajit Mohan, MD of Facebook India, and other respondents have been issued by adjudicating officer Simrandeep Singh, who is the Secretary to J&K government's Department of Information Technology.

Taking cognisance of a complaint filed under the Information Technology Act 2000 by Jammu resident Vivek Sagar through advocate of J&K High Court Deepak Sharma, the secretary issued notices to them to appear before him on 12 November.

In the notice issued to the Facebook India head, it is said that Vivek Sagar had filed a complaint against others including the company under the IT Act.

The notices for appearance have also been issued to Director of Bajaj Finance Ltd, Director of Quadrant Televentures Ltd and an SBI manager.

The complaint has been filed by Vivek Sagar alleging that Facebook and the other respondents have violated the provisions of the IT Act by cheating and defrauding the complainant as he was made to deposit Rs 20,700 for getting a loan at 4 per cent interest from Bajaj Finance Ltd, he said.

As such, in order to the inquiry and adjudicate into the allegations levelled by the complainant, you are hereby directed to appear in person before the undersigned office on 12th of November 2020 at 11 am in the forenoon, the notice reads.

Under Section 46 of the Information Technology Act, the secretary of the department of Information Technology is designated as the adjudicating officer by the government to deal with complaints.