Supreme Court stays cheating case against Shaadi.com founder

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed proceedings in a criminal case filed against Shaadi.com founder Anupam Mittal over the platform's alleged failure to verify details of a man who allegedly used the matrimonial website to defraud a woman [Anupam Mittal vs. State of Telangana & Anr.]..A Bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Joymalya Bagchi passed the interim order while hearing Mittal’s challenge to a Telangana High Court order that had refused to quash the criminal case against him. .The case arose from a complaint filed earlier this year by a woman who said she met a man through Shaadi.com and was later cheated by him. She alleged that the man took over ₹10 lakh from her under false pretences and later threatened to morph and publish her photos when she demanded repayment.Although Mittal was not named in the original complaint, he was later added as an accused during the investigation. The allegation is that Shaadi.com failed to verify the user’s identity before allowing him to interact with others on the platform..Mittal told the Court that the man in question had verified his profile through mobile OTP but had chosen not to upload any government ID. This was visible on his profile, and the complainant had proceeded to engage with him outside the platform of her own accord. The platform’s safety guidelines, Mittal submitted, clearly warn users against sharing financial details or transferring money to other users..It was also submitted that Shaadi.com functions as an intermediary, similar to traditional matrimonial ads, and cannot be held criminally liable for the independent actions of its users. Mittal argued that the case against him was entirely baseless and amounted to a misuse of the criminal process..The High Court had refused to go into these issues, holding that since the charges involved offences punishable with less than seven years, the investigation against Mittal could continue. .Taking note of the submissions, the Supreme Court stayed all further proceedings and sought a response from the Telangana Police on the issue. .Mittal was represented by Senior Advocates Atmaram Nadkarni and Gaurav Agarwal, and Advocates Zulfiquar Memon, Waseem Pangarkar, Vivek Jain, Nadiya Sarguroh, and Swapnil Srivastava, from MZM Legal LLP.