IT started as yet another irritating chain mail three years ago, but has created legal history by becoming the first case in which a court has sought the details of the sender.

The Delhi High Court has ordered the e-mail service provider, MSN Hotmail, to disclose the details of an unidentified person sending out chain mails using the name of the Tata group and its Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata, and claiming to be involved in the treatment of cancer patients in Dharwad in Karnataka.

The court has also issued an interim injunction against the unidentified defendant restraining the individual from claiming any kind of association or endorsement with the Tata Group, a company press release said on Tuesday.

The unidentified defendant, referred to as Ashok Kumar, had been sending out e-mails from a Hotmail account under the domain name "unionagainstcancer@hotmail.com. The e-mail claimed that the message was being sent by a non-government organisation (NGO) and the Tatas had agreed to pay a certain sum of money as charity each time the mail was forwarded.

The e-mail also listed other alleged sponsors that include the Times of India, Tata Memorial Centre (Tata Memorial Hospital and Cancer Research Institute), Karnataka Cancer Therapy and Research Institute and Amala Cancer Research Institute in Amalapuram.

Mr Justice C. K. Mahajan of the Delhi High Court directed Hotmail to respond to the notice within two weeks.

Ms Jyotsna Balakrishnan, an associate of the Tata Sons' counsel, Mr Pravin Anand, told Business Line that it was the first order of its kind passed by any court in India against an unidentified person in the cyber world.

Tata Sons contended that the unidentified entity was falsely claiming the endorsement or sponsorship of the Tata Group and its Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata, by using its registered trademark in its domain name.
In a press statement, Tata Sons Senior Vice President (Finance), Mr F. N. Subedar, said that it was basically an attempt to caution the public against this false and unknown chain mail.

Who is Ashok Kumar?
JOHN Doe, the imaginary fall guy in the US courts, has finally made his appearance in India as Ashok Kumar.

If there is no John Doe in the US, you will not find Ashok Kumar in India either. Ashok Kumar, like John Doe, is a fictitious character created to represent an unidentified cyber criminal. Once the real offender is found, the name gets substituted.

Ms Jyotsna Balakrishnantold Business Line that the real offender would soon be traced and the real name would substitute the fictitious Ashok Kumar.

Ms Balakrishnan said that Ashok Kumar was also named as the unidentified defendant in a recent case involving piracy of the cable television signals of Ten Sports during the recent Indo-Pak cricket series.

Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar, it would appear, is well on his way to obtain a cult status in Indian legal parlance.