In yet another case of contempt in a commercial suit, the Bombay High Court on August 13 imposed a hefty cost of Rs 50 lakh on a company which used ‘deceptively’ similar trademark of Fevicol and its range of products despite an injunction restraining the company from using anything similar to said trademark.
Single-judge Justice Riyaz Chagla noted that the petitioner in breach of the injunction order continued to sell the disputed products. It refused to accept the contention of the original defendant Kusum Puri Goswami, the owners of defendant company that it had sold the company to one Rajinder Puri Goswami and thus, they cannot be held responsible for any disobedience of the High Court’s July 13, 2017 injunction order. The judge further refused to consider the ‘justification’ put forth by Rajinder Goswami and the now new company, that they were unaware of the July 13, 2017 order and also of the undertaking and consent terms signed by the parties, then, agreeing not to use the impugned trademark.
“I find that Respondent Nos.1 and 2 have made false statements in their Affidavit that they have ceased their business of manufacturing and / or sale of the impugned product as this is contrary to the material on record, including the said response to the cease and desist notice. The Respondent Nos.1 and 2 may have produced their income tax returns which show ‘NIL’, however, that does not detract from the fact that the business was being carried out by Respondent Nos.1 and 2 through Respondent Nos.3 and 4 who are all inter related,” the judge said in the August 13 order.
The judge opined that the Respondents 3 and 4 (company and Rajinder Goswami) did had the knowledge of the final order and consent terms forming part thereof on account of their integral connection with each other and particularly as Kusum and Rajinder are in martial relationship.
“The Respondents have failed to offer any apology let alone an unconditional apology and which is evident from their lack of remorse or regret on their part for their wrongful acts and / or wilful disobedience of the Courts Orders. It is well settled that the Court ought not to allow its processes to be set at naught and / or breach of its Orders by parties such as the Respondents and strict action ought to be taken against the Respondents for their malafide conduct. It would be necessary for the Respondents to purge their contempt by penalising them rather than their being punished by civil imprisonment. Accordingly, I consider this to be a fit case to impose a penalty / costs on the Respondents,” Justice Chagla made it clear.
Therefore, the bench ordered the respondents to pay Rs 50 lakh to Pidilite, within four weeks of the instant order getting uploaded on the HC website.
“Failure on the part of Kusum and Rajinder to comply with this Order would result in them being taken into custody and detained for a period of two weeks in Civil Prison namely, Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai,” the order added.
According to the Petitioner company, it had obtained an injunction order after signing a consent terms with the defendants in July 2017 to the effect that the defendants would stop selling of their impugned products which are similar to Fevicol MR Artistic Work, Fevicol MR Bottle and Fevicol MR Glue Pens. The petitioners contended that despite the undertaking given and the injunction in place, the defendants continued to sell the disputed products in the same deceptive and vindictive manner.
Appearance:
Advocates Hiren Kamod, Nishad Nadkarni, Aasif Navodia, Khushboo Jhunjhunwala, Jaanvi Chopra and Rakshita Singh instructed by Khaitan and Co. for the Petitioner.
Advocates Aseem Naphade, Pooja Yadav, Sonali Bhosale, JV Bhosale and Akshay Dunde represented the Defendants.
Cause List: Pidilite Industries vs Premier Stationery Industries Pvt. Ltd. (Contempt Petition 28560 of 2024)
