Against Twitter and its owner Elon Musk, a journalist from Mumbai has filed a charge of cheating, alleging that they stole his idea for a new label or "tick" for the accounts of well-known people, including heads of state.

Normal verified accounts on Twitter are marked with a blue checkmark, while those belonging to well-known figures, like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi or US President Joe Biden, are marked with a brown checkmark.

Journalist Rupesh Singh filed a case with a magistrate's court in suburban Andheri, asking for action under the Copyright Act, Indian Criminal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).

Although the complaint was submitted on March 1, the specifics were only made public on Friday.

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Along with Musk, Manish Maheshwari, the former head of Twitter India, was also mentioned in the case.

He is quite active on Twitter and is a senior journalist, writer, and director, according to Singh in the complaint submitted through attorney Niraj Gupta.

He noted that all verified Twitter accounts have blue ticks, regardless of whether they belong to regular users or well-known figures like leaders of the state.

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According to the complaint, Singh developed and created the idea that notable people' verified Twitter accounts should have various coloured ticks and posted it on the microblogging platform's wall in May 2022.

But the accused, in a very "pre-planned and afterthought manner", did not reply to his concept but after a few months the same idea of a different-coloured tick was implemented without giving him credit and remuneration, it alleged.

The accused, hatching a criminal conspiracy, played a fraud upon the complainant, caused him huge wrongful loss and also "mental and physical torture", the complaint said.

The court will hear the matter on March 17.

(With PTI Inputs)

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