Delhi High Court Orders Takedown Of Fake Kotak Trading Accounts From Social Media

The Delhi High Court on 14 October granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction to Kotak Mahindra Bank and Kotak Securities against unidentified defendants accused of impersonating them on social media to lure investors into fraudulent trading schemes.

Justice Vikas Mahajan directed Meta Platforms, WhatsApp, Google, Telegram, X Corp and LinkedIn to remove the infringing accounts and disclose the operators' KYC details. He held:

“I am of the view that the plaintiffs have made out a prima facie case for grant of an ad-interim injunction against the defendants. The balance of convenience lies in favour of the plaintiffs and they are likely to suffer irreparable harm and injury, besides financial prejudice to the general public and unwary investors, in case the ad-interim injunction, as prayed for, is not granted.”

The plaintiffs alleged that fraudsters had approached investors through social media, WhatsApp and Telegram groups during 2024, 2025 and 2026, using the Kotak marks on fake trading platforms and apps. They impersonated registered trading members of Kotak Securities and promised guaranteed or high returns.

Investors transferred money to private bank accounts and sole proprietorships but were subsequently unable to withdraw it. The plaintiffs told the Court that they had received over 100 complaints involving losses ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh each. They said police complaints had failed to stop the fraud.

They also submitted that they had not authorised any of the accounts and alleged trademark infringement under Section 29(2)(c) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, and passing off. They relied on their registrations for the word mark “KOTAK” and the infinity device, as well as their use of “KOTAK” since around 1985.

The Court found a prima facie case in the plaintiffs' favour and held that the balance of convenience also favoured them, noting the likelihood of “irreparable harm and injury, besides financial prejudice to the general public and unwary investors”.

Therefore, it restrained the unidentified defendants, until the next hearing, from using “KOTAK”, “KOTAK BANK”, “KOTAK SECURITIES”, the logo, the infinity device or any deceptively similar variants.

The Bench also prohibited them from misrepresenting themselves as the plaintiffs, their managing directors, chief executive officers, employees or authorised representatives on any platform, or passing off their services as those of the plaintiffs.

It directed Meta, WhatsApp, Google, Telegram, X Corp and LinkedIn to take down the infringing websites, accounts and links identified in the order's annexures and disclose the operators' names, contact details, identity proofs, photographs and other KYC details. It also directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to instruct internet service providers and telecom operators to block access to the listed websites.

The matter will be heard by the Joint Registrar on 7 December 2026 and by the Court on 8 February 2027.