Tobacco-to-hospitality major ITC Ltd has sued ad man and socialite Suhel Seth for Rs 200 crore for what the company alleges are 'defamatory' tweets and newspaper articles against ITC and its chairman, YC Deveshwar. Two suits, each asking for Rs 100 crore in damages, have been filed in courts in Bangalore and Kolkata.
ITC officials say Seth has been making such comments ever since the company's contract with him and his firm was terminated in end 2007. Seth's firm Equus used to handle the company's advertisement work from 2002 till 2005, and thereafter, he was associated with the company for another two years.
While ITC filed its first suit against Seth in the Bangalore City Civil Court, the second was recently filed in the Calcutta High Court. Seth confirms that ITC has two cases against him and sought damages of Rs 100 crore in Bangalore. He says he is yet to get the plaint details of the suit in the Calcutta High Court.
A year-old post on Twitter by Seth reads: "YC Deveshwar of ITC has had a sterling track-record of avoiding retirement at all costs...he could also be offered to the Maosits (sic) but then...." Another tweet reads: "YC Deveshwar of ITC has just been nominated CHAIRMAN ETERNUS (sic)...forget Emeritus..." Seth has recently removed a few of his comments on Deveshwar from Twitter.
Five days ago, he posted this tweet: "I wish to record that my account is being constantly hacked into...some of the tweets ascribed to me, sadly are not mine...am taking steps!" ITC officials say it has kept all records of Seth's old tweets, that it has sufficient proof, and has accordingly filed the two suits.
When contacted, an ITC spokesman said: "The matter is sub judice and hence we cannot share details. His firm was a retainer with ITC and it was decided not to renew his contract. Since then he has been attempting to malign the company. The senior managers have collectively expressed their deep resentment at his continuous defamatory statements and we have therefore decided to file an appropriate suit."
In an e-mailed response, Seth told ET on Sunday: "The suit in Bangalore pertains to a Twitter message which they say was crafted by me: 'Yogi Devesh will teach the insider trading course at Tihar School of Business'. It is important to note that the tweet had nothing to do with ITC nor is there any mention of ITC in the tweet as is apparent from above! As for my course of action, my lawyers will be doing the needful."
This post is longer available in Seth's Twitter account. Seth, in a weekly column he writes for a Kolkata newspaper (he was answering a reader's question on smoking), had said: "...If all else fails, walk over to ITC at 36 Chowringhee, Calcutta and ask Yogi Deveshwar for some tips. Remember he is making ITC itself give up cigarettes and diversify to Bingo and clothes so he might be of help too!" Seth's advertisement agency Equus used to work for the ITC's hotel business.
People familiar with the matter said that after losing the hotel account, Seth had approached other ITC businesses for ad contracts that did not materialise. However, Seth refutes this: "Let me state that Equus Advertising was handling the hotels business for ITC and Equus did not approach ITC for any business: the then director-in-charge of the hotels division asked Equus to work on the hotels brand."
"I ceased to be CEO of Equus in January 2006 to start Counselage (and have thereafter nothing to do with the day to day functioning of Equus which is a well-known fact within industry) and from day one my clients have been the Taj Group of Hotels amongst others so there is no question of my approaching ITC or any of its divisions and the statement from the so-called sources at ITC is a strategy both deflective and false."
Currently, ITC works with agencies like JWT, O&M and Rediffusion.