Axed Labor figure’s breakthrough in unmasking ‘dirt sheet’ plotters
Nurul Khan’s political ambitions were destroyed by an anonymous email. Now he’s fighting back to force Google to unmask the troll.
Google has been ordered by the Federal Court to hand over gmail account registration details and other data in a legal case to unmask the anonymous sender of a ‘‘dirt sheet’’ that cost a Labor candidate his preselection week’s before last year’s Victorian election.
The global tech giant has been given 20 days to comply with the orders issued bv Justice Catherine Button on Tuesday during a hearing into what could prove to be a landmark case over access to private information used to register email accounts.
The email, using the address davidjonesaus18@gmail.com, landed at 1.18am and contained a series of defamatory allegations against Mr Khan. Without conducting a thorough investigation the ALP axed him.
‘‘I am still fighting for justice because it was definitely unfair for me,’’ he told The Australian.
‘‘Searching for the truth in this case will reveal who was behind this.’’
Google failed to appear in the court on Tuesday, but had earlier made an offer to Mr Khan to disclose the gmail account registration details. But Mr Khan pushed ahead with the court case in the hope Google would also be forced to hand over the IP address used to send the offending email on November 9.
In her official court orders, Justice Button noted that Google had not engaged in the court process. ‘‘The respondent (Google) has reserved its position as to the jurisdiction of this Court and has not voluntarily submitted to the Court’s jurisdiction,’’ the court orders state.
Mr Khan’s barrister, Justin Castelan, described the contents of the email as defamatory and said his client needed the gmail registration details and other data that could reveal who sent the email on November 9.
Mr Castelan told the court the email sent from the the account davidjonesaus18@google.com — which carried the subject line stating ‘Attention seeking regarding the Candidate of Mr. Nurul Khan as Western Metropolitan Region in the 2022 VIC state election — was ‘‘clearly defamatory’’.
‘‘In terms of the serious harm ... he had been preselected to run for the Labor Party at the state ... election and he was disendorsed,’’ Mr Castelan told the court.
‘‘We are seeking to establish who published this email and who is the subscriber for that email address.’’
Mr Khan has previously claimed he was the victim of a political conspiracy involving Andrews Government MPs and local Labor figures.
‘‘It is my opinion that some local MPs are involved in removing me,’’ he told The Australian shortly after his axing, which prompted his resignation from the Victorian ALP.
Mr Khan has also claimed that the Victorian ALP denied him natural justice after it swiftly axed him from the ticket without giving him the chance to contest the allegations.
The Victorian ALP has stood by its decision to axe Mr Khan from its Upper House ticket, saying that aftger the email was received, the party conducted an examination of candidate applications material and the decision was made that Mr Khan was not a suitable candidate.
‘‘We take the integrity and behaviour of all candidates extremely seriously,’’ a party spokesperson said shortly after the axing.
If Google complies with the orders and the data does confirm that Victorian ALP figures were involved in the ‘dirt sheet’ the controversy has the potential to become a full blown political scandal.
The Federal Court case has been adjourned until August 11.
