Vizag Court stops Google from sharing Indian citizens Gmail password to California

The District Judge at Vishakhapatnam (Vizag) has restrained Google from complying with a subpoena issued by the Superior Court of California, ordering Google to share the password of the Gmail account belonging to an Indian citizen residing in Vishakhapatnam. The Plaintiff in this case argued that as an India citizen he had a right to privacy under the Indian Constitution and that the defendants could not violate his right.

The Indian citizen Kopisetty Sreeramulu informed the District Court that he had received an email, on 14th March, 2012, from google-legal-support@google.com informing him that they would share the information in his gmail.com account, in pursuance to a subpoena from the Superior Court of California unless he could produce an order quashing the subpoena.

Sreeramulu, a freelance IT professional, who provides services to US based companies, does not appear to be a party to the litigation before the Superior Court of California. The litigation before the California court pertains to a dispute between two other parties and it appears that  Sreeramulu, or rather his gmail.com account, was in possession of certain documents or information which was vital to the litigation before the California court.