Bombay High Court Issues Bailable Warrants Against 4 Effingut Directors In Copyright Contempt Case By PPL

The Bombay High Court recently issued bailable warrants against four directors of the Pune-based Effingut Breweries, a popular largest craft beer brand and owners of pubs and lounges operating in major cities like Pune, Delhi, Mumbai, Gurugram etc for failing to appear before the court as ordered in a previous hearing.

Single-judge Justice Sharmila Deshmukh was hearing a contempt petition against Effingut Breweries and its directors - Vishal Makar, Manish Tandon, Upesh Gulati and Monika Gulati for non-compliance with a previous order of the bench.

The contempt petition was filed by Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) highlighting the fact that despite an undertaking in a previous hearing, the defendants have been broadcasting songs on which the former has a copyright.

On a previous hearing, the defendants had undertook before the court that they will not be broadcasting PPL's copyrighted songs without obtaining the licence from them. On this undertaking, the defendants were permitted to appear before the court, virtually.

When the matter was called out on February 2, the PPL counsel Amogh Singh assisted by Dhirendra Singh, informed the bench that no licence was yet procured by the defendants. They apprised the bench of the fact that without discussing about the licence and the fees for the same, the defendants 'arbitrarily' transferred Rs 4 lakhs to the PPL in the garb of license fee which was 'unacceptable' and the said amount was duly returned.

In his brief submissions, Singh pointed out that despite a clear undertaking by the defendants, they were blatantly broadcasting the PPL's copyrighted song. To substantiate his contention, Singh furnished an affidavit to the effect stating its representatives had visited the defendant's premises and found that the PPL's copyrighted songs were being unauthorisedly broadcasted.

However, Justice Deshmukh noted that though Umesh Gulati appeared virtually through video conferencing facility, his video was off.

"Therefore, it is difficult to ascertain whether he is present online. By the order of January 6, 2026, the Respondent Nos. 2 to 5 (Directors) were permitted to appear through video conferencing. It appears that the Respondents though permitted to appear through video conferencing have failed to appear.In view thereof, issue bailable warrants against Respondent Nos. 2 to 5 in the sum of Rs. 15,000/- each returnable on February 24, 2026," Justice Deshmukh ordered.

The bench therefore, ordered the defendants to remain present personally in Court on the next date failing which, the judge warned that the court will be constrained to issue non-bailable warrants.

The matter is adjourned till February 24.

For Plaintiff: Advocates Amogh Singh, Asmant Nimbalkar, Anil Kumar Singh, Neeraj Nawar, Hiten Wasan and Dhirendra Singh

For Defendent: Advocates Abhiraj Parab and Samiksha Malekar