Bombay High Court Refers Talent Management Firm's Dispute With YouTuber Prajakta Koli To Arbitration

The Bombay High Court recently referred disputes between Singapore-based talent management firm OneDigital Entertainment Pte Ltd. and YouTuber-actor Prajakta Koli to arbitration.

A single bench of Justice Sandeep V. Marne appointed former Bombay High Court judge Justice Sadhana Jadhav as the sole arbitrator to adjudicate disputes arising out of a Performance of Artists Management Agreement dated September 10, 2015.

OneDigital had approached the High Court seeking interim relief before the commencement of arbitral proceedings.

During the hearing, both sides agreed to move the dispute to an arbitral tribunal instead of continuing with the interim relief proceedings, with the arbitration to be conducted as a domestic arbitration seated in Mumbai.

The parties also told the Court that, as of February 6, 2026, OneDigital had already entered into arrangements with five third parties concerning Prajakta Koli.

Pending arbitration, the Court recorded an interim arrangement directing Prajakta Koli to honour those five existing engagements, observing that, “Respondent shall honour the existing five engagements already entered into by the Petitioner with third parties.”

The arrangement was made subject to OneDigital sharing copies of the relevant documentation and full revenue details relating to those engagements.

The Court further recorded that if OneDigital introduced any new client and Prajakta agreed to accept such an engagement, she would share 10% of the revenue generated from that assignment with the company.

At the same time, it clarified that Prajakta would remain free to independently accept engagements outside OneDigital without restrictions.

The High Court also directed Prajakta to maintain accounts of all engagements undertaken by her pending adjudication of the Section 17 application before the arbitral tribunal.

It clarified that the interim arrangement would operate without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both parties.

Accordingly, the Court directed OneDigital to file its Section 17 application before the arbitral tribunal within four weeks and held that the interim arrangement would continue till disposal of that application.

All rights and contentions on merits have been expressly kept open before the arbitral tribunal.

For Petitioner (OneDigital Entertainment Pte Ltd.): Senior Advocate Ashish Kamat with Advocates Harsh Moorjani, Prashant Sivarajan, Jay Zaveri, Tavleen Saini, Anjali Sharma, Tushar Saigal and Ujjwal Batra instructed by Crawford Bayley & Co.

For Respondent (Prajakta Koli): Senior Advocate G.S. Godbole with Advocates Astad Randeria, Aditi Sen, Aadya Saggurth and Namit Chatrath instructed by Khimani & Associates.