The Calcutta High Court on May 20 refused to order OpenAI to display IndiaMart links in ChatGPT responses, dismissing IndiaMart InterMesh Ltd’s interim relief application. Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur found no prima facie case and ruled against granting any order, reversing a December 2025 decision that had favored IndiaMart’s claim of selective discrimination, according to medianama.com.
The case began when IndiaMart alleged that ChatGPT was excluding its links without logic, seeking a court directive to include them. The December 2025 order had found a strong prima facie case for selective exclusion. However, after hearing OpenAI’s arguments, the court reversed this view, concluding that no immediate relief was warranted. The judgment marks the first Indian court ruling on whether businesses can legally challenge AI platforms for silent exclusion from their outputs.
This ruling is significant as India hosts 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, the second largest user base globally. Experts highlight that AI systems do more than rank links; they construct the consumer’s informational universe. As AI assistants become primary interfaces for product discovery, exclusion from their outputs can materially affect market access. This raises issues of platform neutrality and competitive neutrality beyond traditional notions of speech or search, emphasizing the evolving legal challenges in regulating AI-driven information dissemination.
Looking ahead, the ruling sets a precedent that AI platforms currently have broad discretion in content inclusion without legal obligation to surface specific business links. Stakeholders and policymakers may need to explore new frameworks addressing platform neutrality and competition in AI-generated content. Further legal challenges or regulatory interventions could emerge as AI becomes central to commercial information discovery in India.