Similarity With 'Excel' Alone Not Bad Faith; Delhi HC Sets Aside Award Transferring 'exceltotally.in' To Microsoft

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral award that directed the transfer of the domain name "exceltotally.in" to Microsoft Corporation. The Court held that confusing similarity with Microsoft's "EXCEL" trademark, by itself, was not enough to establish bad faith under the .IN Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (INDRP). Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar observed that the arbitrator had not independently examined whether the registrants intentionally sought to deceive users, exploit...

Delhi High Court Grants Ex Parte Injunction Against Clone Websites Impersonating Signature Global

The Delhi High Court on 29 May granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of real estate developer Signature Global (India) Limited and restrained the operators of multiple clone websites and social media accounts from impersonating the company and defrauding homebuyers. A Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh held: “Having heard learned counsel for the Plaintiff and upon perusal of the documents, I am of the view that Plaintiff has made out a prima facie case for grant of ex parte ad interim...

Defendant Cannot Invoke Arbitration Clause After Participating In Trial Without Objection: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court on 3 June reiterated that a defendant who files a written statement and participates in the trial without seeking reference to arbitration at the appropriate stage cannot later invoke an arbitration clause to challenge the maintainability of the suit. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna upheld a recovery decree of Rs. 2.91 lakh in favour of Dollar Security & Support Services against Amber Electrotech Ltd., finding that the company had never disputed the outstanding invoice...

'Economic Decision, Not A Criminal Offence': Delhi HC Quashes FIR, ED Case Against NewsClick, Founder Over Foreign Funding

The Delhi High Court has recently quashed an FIR registered against digital media platform NewsClick and its founder, Prabir Purkayastha, along with the Enforcement Directorate's money laundering case, holding that the allegations failed to disclose offences of cheating or criminal breach of trust. Justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed that the basic ingredients of the offences were absent. The court held: "Even if all the allegations are accepted, no offence under 406 or 420 IPC is disclosed...

Delhi High Court Denies Bail To Former Reliance Power CFO Ashok Kumar Pal In ₹68.20 Crore PMLA Case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday denied regular bail to Ashok Kumar Pal, former Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Power Ltd and authorised signatory of Reliance NU BESS Ltd. The case arises from the alleged submission of forged bank guarantees worth ₹68.20 crore for a Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) battery storage project. Justice Madhu Jain held that the material relied upon by the Enforcement Directorate, including statements, documents, and electronic communications, could not...

Plea In Delhi High Court Alleges NCLAT E-Filing Glitches Hampering Appeal Against CCI's Rapido Order

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday heard a petition alleging that repeated non-speaking defect notices issued by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) Registry and technical glitches in its e-filing portal were obstructing the petitioner's statutory right to pursue an appeal. The appeal,filed by Vedansh Pandey, challenges a Competition Commission of India (CCI) order that closed his complaint against Rapido over alleged permit violations in Uttarakhand.During the hearing,...

Delhi High Court Refuses To Lift Injunction Against KS Agro's Rice Packaging Over Similarity To Zarda King

The Delhi High Court has refused to lift an interim injunction restraining KS Agro Impex from selling Golden Sella Basmati Rice in packaging alleged to imitate GRM Foodkraft's 'Zarda King' trade dress. The court held that KS Agro's packaging was deceptively similar to GRM's. It further held that GRM had established a prima facie case of passing off and copyright infringement. Justice Jyoti Singh observed that a comparison of the rival packaging revealed striking similarities. The court found...

Delhi High Court Grants Relief To Acharya Manish Against AI-Generated Fake Endorsements

The Delhi High Court has granted temporary protection to the personality rights of Manish Grover, popularly known as 'Acharya Manish' or 'Chikitsaguru,' after finding a prima facie case that unknown persons used artificial intelligence to create fake endorsements of health products using his voice and videos. Granting an ad-interim injunction on June 5, a vacation bench of Justice Saurabh Banerjee observed that the unknown operators of various social media accounts had “gone a step further”...

Delhi HC Denies Anticipatory Bail To EEE MD In ₹9.31 Crore BESCOM Payment Diversion Case

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused anticipatory bail to Aswath Reddy N, Managing Director of Electrical Energy Equipments India Pvt Ltd (EEE), in a case involving allegations that he induced a company to supply materials worth about ₹9.31 crore. The complainant alleged that the supplies were made on the assurance that payments from Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Ltd (BESCOM) would be routed through an Escrow Account that was never operationalised. Justice Madhu Jain held that...

Delhi High Court Issues Summons In Former Tihar Jail Officer's Defamation Suit Against 'Black Warrant' Authors

The Delhi High Court has issued notice in a defamation suit filed by former Tihar Jail officer L.P. Nirmal against author and former Tihar jailer Sunil Gupta and others over the book 'Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer'. Nirmal claims the book falsely links him to an inmate escape that never occurred. Justice Subramonium Prasad issued summons in the suit on May 29. The Court did not grant any ex parte interim relief and has listed Nirmal's injunction application for hearing on August...

Delhi High Court Orders Removal Of Fake IndiaMart Websites, Blocks WhatsApp Accounts

The Delhi High Court has granted an interim injunction in favour of IndiaMart Intermesh Limited against unidentified persons allegedly operating fake websites, WhatsApp accounts, and bank accounts using the company's INDIAMART marks. The Court also directed the takedown of specified URLs and blocking of identified WhatsApp accounts. Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on May 26 while dealing with a suit filed by IndiaMart. The company alleged that unidentified persons were operating fake...

Delhi High Court Finds 'Konaflex' Deceptively Similar To 'Koanaflex', Grants Injunction To PVC Pipe Maker

The Delhi High Court has granted an interim injunction restraining a Jaunpur-based manufacturer of water storage tanks from using the mark "Konaflex" on its products, finding it deceptively similar to the "Koanaflex" mark and logo used by Modern Pipe Industries. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order on May 29 while rejecting the defendant's objection to the Delhi High Court's territorial jurisdiction and restraining further use of the impugned mark pending the suit. "Except for the first...