Delhi High Court asks Centre to respond to plea for blocking Chinese firm’s websites and mobile app

The Delhi High Court Tuesday sought response of the Centre on a plea seeking to block the e-commerce websites and a mobile application being operated by a Chinese company, SPPIN India Pvt Ltd, on the allegation that it may threaten the security and integrity of the country.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice and asked the Centre to respond to the petition and listed the matter for further hearing on January 11. The Public Interest Litigation also sought action against the company, alleging that it has been operating in contravention with the Foreign Direct Investment Policy (FDI) and Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) norms.

The company is operating e-commerce websites seller.shopee.in and shopee.in and a mobile application Shopee: Online Shopping.

The petitioner Shashank Shekhar Jha, an advocate by profession, has sought to direct the Centre to investigate the foreign investments received in SPPIN India Pvt Ltd and other similar entities incorporated here.

"The petitioner has come to understand that the actions of SPPIN and the inactions of the respondents are likely to have a grave and imminent danger to the security, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of India. ''The petitioner has also come to understand that the public and private data of the Indian citizens collected by SPPIN is likely to be compromised, given that such data is believed to be stored on a cloud space, which, directly or indirectly, is accessible to the Chinese government," the petitioner, represented through senior advocate Sanjeev Puri, said.

The plea alleged that SPPIN, in connivance with its holding companies, has been conducting its business in contravention with the laws of the land, including the FDI policies and FEMA Rules.