Rediff chief Ajit Balakrishnan faces pornography-related charges
Mumbai: In a court order that could have serious legal implications, a sessions court judge in Pune has put six directors of premier portal Rediff.com on trial for "giving access to pornographic material on the Internet.

The high profile chairman of the portal, Mr. Ajit Balakrishnan is among those summoned for the December 30 hearing. A high-level Intel executive, Tony Janz, has also been summoned. If convicted, the directors might face up to two years imprisonment.

When advocate Rohan Nagpal filed the pornography complaint against Rediff two months ago -- on behalf of a law student Abhinav Bhatt – most lawyers surmised that the judge would simply dismiss the case. The complaint said that Rediff's search engine gave free and easy access to pornographic material.

However judge S. Bhosle ordered a police inquiry. The police report stated that the portal's search engine did not create any objectionable material and that it was in the nature of a search engine to give access to everything on the Web, something which most search engines did. But the judge didn't think that was a sound argument to absolve Rediff of charges.

Considering the allegation that the accused company is advertising their search engine facility and thereby provoking the citizen to view their website, I am of the opinion that enough material is available on which the accused can be put up for trial, Bhosle has ruled.

The case will come up for hearing on December 30.
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