Blogger Robert Alai has been barred by the High Court from further publishing defamatory words against a hospital that is owned by Kesses MP Swarup Ranjan Mishra.
Justice Msagha Mbogholi issued the temporary orders pending the hearing of a suit filed by the Mediheal Hospital and Fertility Centre Limited.
In its application, the Hospital through its director, MP Mishra, accused Alai of relentlessly publishing through his Twitter and Facebook accounts defamatory words regarding the hospital.
“The statements are false, malicious, negligent, and reckless and have subjected the Hospital to unprecedented and extremely numerous calls and concerns regarding the accusations,” said Mishra, who is the director of the hospital.
Mishra claimed that Alai’s tweets are accessible to over 1,600,000 followers on Twitter and 546,000 others on his Facebook page.
“The defendant published the said defamatory posts in a sensational manner so as to garner more followers on his social media sites and thus profit economically from the Plaintiff’s public embarrassment and scandal,” he claimed.
According to the MP, the contents of the said tweets and posts by their ordinary meaning and by innuendo were understood to mean that the hospital is engaged in the illicit business of smuggling and trafficking in human organs, economic exploitation of vulnerable patients.
Justice Mbogholi certified the matter as urgent and directed it to be heard on April 22.
