A sitting judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has approached the Karnataka High Court seeking directions to Google India and the Union government to remove allegedly defamatory online content and block URLs of some news reports published against him by publications in Sri Lanka.
Justice AHMD Nawaz, the fourth senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka, has alleged that certain online articles and search results published in 2015 and 2020 have caused severe damage to his "international reputation" as a jurist.
The petition states that justice Nawaz cannot pursue defamation proceedings in Sri Lanka because, as a sitting Supreme Court judge, doing so would conflict with the principle "nemo judex in causa sua"—that no person should be a judge in their own cause.
He has invoked the jurisdiction of the Karnataka High Court arguing that the alleged defamation is being propagated through online platforms and that Google India's headquarters are located in Bengaluru.
The plea further contends that courts have recognised that the location of the server or headquarters of the entity hosting the content may be considered while determining jurisdiction in cases involving online defamation.
