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The Delhi High Court has granted ad-interim protection to Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited and its group entity Kotak Securities Limited against unidentified persons allegedly impersonating them online and misusing the “KOTAK” brand to lure investors into fraudulent investment schemes. The order was passed by Justice Vikas Mahajan on 14 October 2026 in Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited & Anr. v. John Doe & Ors., CS(COMM) 1075/2026.

The case concerns unidentified “John Doe” defendants who, according to the plaintiffs, have been operating through social media and messaging platforms using Kotak’s corporate names and registered trademarks.

The Bank pleaded before the Court that fraudsters had approached consumers and investors during 2024, 2025 and 2026 through social media as well as WhatsApp and Telegram groups, offering purported trading platforms and applications bearing Kotak trademarks and impersonating genuine representatives and applications.

According to the submissions recorded in the order, investors were allegedly promised guaranteed or high returns and induced to transfer money as investments. The funds were allegedly transferred to private accounts, sole proprietorship firms or individuals, after which investors were unable to withdraw their money. The plaintiffs further informed the Court that they had received over 100 client complaints, with affected investors allegedly losing amounts ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹10 lakh each.

Kotak Mahindra Bank also told the Court that it had taken steps including filing criminal complaints with the police, but that the fraudulent activity had continued.

Following a search conducted in mid-2026, the plaintiffs said they had compiled hundreds of active fraudulent listings across various online platforms.

After examining the material placed before it, the High Court held that the plaintiffs had made out a prima facie case for an ad-interim injunction. The Court observed that the balance of convenience was in the plaintiffs’ favour and that failure to grant interim protection was likely to cause irreparable harm and injury to the plaintiffs, besides financial prejudice to the general public and unwary investors.

The Court accordingly restrained the unidentified defendants and persons acting on their behalf from using, exploiting or misappropriating Kotak’s brands, goodwill and names, including“KOTAK”, “KOTAK BANK” and “KOTAK SECURITIES”, their associated logos and deceptively similar variants without authorisation.

It also restrained them from misrepresenting themselves as the plaintiffs, their MDs, CEOs, employees or authorised representatives through websites, mobile applications, social media groups or other media.

In a significant direction aimed at curbing online impersonation, the Court ordered Meta Platforms, WhatsApp, Google, Telegram, X and LinkedIn, arrayed as defendant nos. 2 to 7, to pull down the infringing websites, social-media accounts and other fraudulent links identified by the plaintiffs and annexed to the order. The platforms were further directed to provide the plaintiffs with available details of the persons operating such accounts and links, including their names, contact details, ID proof, photographs and other KYC information.