Karnataka High Court quashes plaint against e-marketplace

BENGALURU : The Karnataka High Court has quashed a complaint registered against Snapdeal Pvt Ltd, an online marketing platform, on the ground that an intermediary will not be responsible or liable for sale of any item not complying with requirements under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. 

Noting that the complaint does not attract the essential ingredients of Section 18(1)(c) of the Act (selling drugs without  a valid licence), Justice Suraj Govindaraj said that neither Snapdeal nor its directors can be prosecuted for the offence under Section 27(b)(ii) of the Act. “An intermediary, as defined under Section 2(w) of the Information Technology Act, or its directors/officers, would not be liable for any action or 
inaction on part of a vendor/seller making use of the facilities provided by the intermediary in terms of a website or a market place”, the court said. 

The court noted that there was no acceptable explanation for the highly belated lodging of the complaint and said it is fatal to the proceedings. The Drugs Inspector (Intelligence)-2, Regional Office of the Deputy Drugs Controller, had filed the complaint dated June 5, 2020, on the basis of information allegedly received by Deputy Drugs Controller, Mysuru, on November 20, 2014. 

The Principal Senior Civil Judge and Chief Judicial Magistrate has taken cognisance of the offence on June 8, 2020. The complaint was registered after Adept Biocare had created a seller account on 
Snapdeal.com and sold Suhagra-100 tablets between  October 13, 2014 and December 16, 2014. 
The complaint said this was in of violation of conditions under Section 18(c) of the Act. Hence, Snapdeal moved the high court.