Delhi High Court orders takedown of fake Kotak accounts on Meta, Telegram

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The case targets unidentified “John Doe” defendants who used Kotak’s trademarks across WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn to run fraudulent investment schemes

By Anupama Ghosh

Updated - October 28, 2026 at 10:26 AM.

The Delhi High Court has directed major social media platforms including Meta, Google, Telegram, X, and LinkedIn to remove hundreds of fraudulent accounts impersonating Kotak Mahindra Bank and Kotak Securities, and to share the identity details of their operators with the bank.

Justice Vikas Mahajan passed the ad-interim injunction on October 14, 2026, in Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited & Anr. v. John Doe & Ors., holding that the plaintiffs had established a prima facie case, and that failure to grant interim relief was likely to cause irreparable harm to both the bank and retail investors.

The court also directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to issue blocking notifications to internet and telecom service providers against the infringing URLs listed in annexures to the order.

The case targets unidentified “John Doe” defendants who allegedly used Kotak’s registered trademarks and brand names across WhatsApp groups, Telegram channels, Facebook pages, YouTube accounts, and LinkedIn profiles to run fraudulent investment schemes. According to submissions recorded in the order, fraudsters promised guaranteed high returns, induced investors to transfer funds, and then made the money inaccessible. The bank told the court it had received over 100 client complaints with individual losses ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh.

The court restrained the unidentified defendants from using the “KOTAK,” “KOTAK BANK,” and “KOTAK SECURITIES” names and logos, and from impersonating the bank’s senior management, employees, or authorised representatives on any platform. The platforms have been asked to additionally provide KYC details, contact information, photographs, and ID proof of the account operators.

Defendants 2 through 7—Meta Platforms, WhatsApp, Google, Telegram, X Corp, and LinkedIn—have been given four weeks to file replies. The matter is listed before the Joint Registrar on December 7, 2026, and before the court on February 8, 2027.

Published on October 28, 2026

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