Delhi High Court
Tata Sky Limited vs S G Enterprises- Tata Sky Sales And ... on 15 February, 2025
Author: Prathiba M. Singh
Bench: Prathiba M. Singh
$~2(OS), 4(OS), 7(OS), 9(OS) to 12(OS), 14(OS), 15(OS) 17(OS) to 24(OS),
26(OS) to 33(OS), 35(OS) to 37(OS)
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision: 15th February, 2025
+ CS (COMM) 20/2019 & I.A.561/2019
TATA SKY LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Tanmaya Mehta, Ms. Rashmi
Gogoi, Adv. (M: 9999255931)
versus
S G ENTERPREISES - TATA SKY SALES AND SERVICES AND
ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Mr. Moazzam
Khan, Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Alipak
Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu Advocate,
Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal, Advs. for D-5.
(M:9987115749)
Ms. Akshita Jain, Advocate for D-8.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates.
Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Mr. Ateev Mathur,
Mr. Amol Sharma, Mr. Tanmay Garg,
Mr. Aman Siwasiya, Advs. for HDFC
Bank (M. 9958609042)
Dr. B. Ramaswamy , CGSC for IFSO.
Mr. Chander M Lall, Sr. Adv. with Mr.
Nirupam Lodha, Mr. Kshitij Parashar,
Ms. Annanya Mehan & Ms. Vanshika
Thapliyal, Advs. for Verisign, Inc
(M:7310123456)
(4) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 176/2021 & I.A.1435/2024
SNAPDEAL PRIVATE LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Ms. Tanya Varma & Ms. Devyani
Nath, Advs.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 1 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
versus
GODADDYCOM LLC AND ORS ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Mr. Moazzam
Khan, Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Alipak
Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu Advocate,
Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal, Advs. for D-1, 10, 2,3,4,
23, 26, 31. (M:9987115749)
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa Sr. Adv, Mr.
Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu
Mr. Parva Khare Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal, Advs for D-1 & 10.
Ms. Kruttika Vijay and Ms. Aishwarya
Kane, Advs. for D-9. (M:9910083144)
Ms. Pallavi Singh Rao, Ms. Shree
Sinha, Mr. Shivam Tiwari and Mr.
Siddharth Kothari, Advs. for D-24.
(M:9571147219)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Praveen Kumar Jain & Ms. Shalini
Jha, Advs. for D-34. (M:9871278525)
Mr. Shatrajit Banerji, Advocate for D-
24. (M: 8527862988)
(7) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 475/2022 & I.As.10851-52/2022, 12173/2022
FASHNEAR TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal and Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates.
versus
MEESHO ONLINE SHOPPING PVT. LTD. & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. Vihan Dang, and
Ms. Aditi Umapathy, Advs. for D-6.
Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 2 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advs. for D-10.
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa Sr. Adv, Mr.
Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu,
Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal Advocates. for D-7.
Mr. Abhigyan Siddhant and Mr.
Danish Faraz Khan, Advs for D-19 &
20. (M:9999999045)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu and Mr. Tushar
Bhardwaj, Advs for Reliance Jio.
(9) WITH
+ CS(COMM) 193/2019 & I.As.5399/2019, 11497/2019, 18216/2019,
15451/2021, 6069/2022, 31775/2024
COLGATE PALMOLIVE COMPANY & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya, Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr.
Shivang Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
NIXI & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Akshita Jain, Adv. for D-1 (M-
9990526912).
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Adv., Mr.
Mrinal Ojha, Mr. Debarshi Dutta, Mr.
Arjun Mookerjee, Mr. Nikhil Gupta,
Mr. Nikita Rathi, Mr. Rishabh
Agarwal, Mr. Yogesh Singh, Advs. for
D-3. (916302105061)
Mr. Danish Faraz Khan, Mr. Abhigyan
Siddhant and Mr. Rahul Sharma,
Advocates for UOI with Mr. Tanmay
Nirmal, Manager legal.
Mr. Tentu Satyanarayan, Director
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 3 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
(Legal), UIDAI & Mr. Tanmaya
Nirmal, Deputy Manager (Legal &
Policy), UIDAI (M-9899113033).
Mr. Kushagra Goel, Mr Lovesh Goel,
Ms. Tanya Singhal, Advs. for D-7.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
SI Prince Kumar, PS Hauz Khas.
Mr. Sunil Gautam, SO, UIDAI.
Mr. Nishant Gautam (CGSC), Mr.
Dhruv Joshi, Mr. Vinay Kaushik and
Mr. Vipul Verma, Advs.
Mr Arunav Guha Roy and Mr.
Priyanshu Jain, Advs. for Registry
Services LLC (M: 8700254340)
(10) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 297/2019
MOTHER DAIRY FRUIT & VEGETABLE PVT. LTD...... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
KUMAR PRAHLAD & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Ravi Shankar Mahto, Adv. for D-
1.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advs.
Mr. Premtosh K. Mishra (CGSC), Mr.
Manish Vashist & Ms. Sanya Kalsi,
Advs. (M: 8510042585)
(11) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 298/2019 & I.As. 8189/2019, 13215/2019, 13631/2019,
15695-96/2019, 14210/2021, 16707/2021, 1084/2025
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED & ANR. ..... Plaintiff
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 4 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Through: Mr Kushal Gupta & Ms. Akansha
Singh, Advocates. (M:9811128289)
versus
WWW.ULTRATECHCEMENTS.COM & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Adv. with
Ms. Swati Agarwal, Ms. Akshi
Rastogi & Mr. Vibhu Pahuja, Advs for
D-5 to 7.
Mr. Ananta Prasad Mishra & Mr.
Gagan Gupta, Advocates for D-9.
Mr. Manish Mohan, CGSC for UOI.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Nishant Gautam (CGSC), Mr.
Dhruv Joshi, Mr. Vinay Kaushik and
Mr. Vipul Verma, Advs.
Mr. Premtosh K. Mishra (CGSC), Mr.
Manish Vashist & Ms. Sanya Kalsi,
Advs.
(12) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 732/2019 & I.As. 3865/2020, 9234/2020
MONTBLANC SIMPLO GMBH ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
MONTBLANCINDIA.COM & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Dwivedi, Mr. Vishal
Advocates for D-23 (M.8447704226)
Mr. Yajur Bhalla, Mr. Deepak Samota
and Mr. Sumer Ahuja, Advocates for
D-1, 2, 4 to 10 & 20. (M:9711009378)
Ms. Asiya Khan, Adv. for D-25 (M:
9971644936).
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 5 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal Advocates for D-18.
Mr. Varun Chugh & Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
(14) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 498/2020 & I.A.10520-21/2020
MICROSOFT CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
PCPATCHERS TECHNOLOGY PRIVATE LIMITED
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Sumit Nagpal, Ms. Dolly Luthra
and Ms. Aashta Sood, Advocates for
D-1, 2 & 3. (M:9911995000)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates.
Mr. Varun Chugh and Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
(15) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 82/2020 & I.A. 2402/2020
JOCKEY INTERNATIONAL INC. ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 6 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
WWW.JOCKEYFRANCHISE.COM & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Vivek Jain and Ms. Aastha Tiwari,
Advs. for D-4. (M:9871863446)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates.
Mr. Premtosh K. Mishra (CGSC), Mr.
Manish Vashist & Ms. Sanya Kalsi,
Advs.
(17) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 276/2021 & I.A.7329/2021
MICROSOFT CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
TECH HERACLES OPC PRIVATE LIMITED & ORS.... Defendants
Through: Mr Rajiv Kumar Malik, Mrs. Megha,
Mr Deepanshu Nainwal, Advs for D-1
to 3.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Danish Faraz Khan, Mr. Abhigyan
Siddhant and Mr. Rahul Sharma,
Advocates for UOI.
Mr. Nishant Gautam (CGSC), Mr.
Vinay Kaushik, Ms. Akriti Mehrish,
Advs.
Mr. Varun Chugh and Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
(18) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 293/2021 & I.As.7543/2021
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 7 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
TATA SONS PRIVATE LIMITED & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
M/S ELECTRO INTERNATIONAL & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advs for Airtel
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Shashi Shekhar Dixit, Adv. for
Airtel (M. 8896447704)
Ms. Deepika Kathuria, Adv. for D-8.
Mr. Rishabh Dev Mishra, Advocate
for Bharti Airtel Limited.
Mr. Varun Chugh and Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
(19) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 95/2021 & I.A. 21025/2022, 6516/2023
THE HIMALAYA DRUG COMPANY & ORS. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Saif Khan Mr. Achuthan
Sreekumar, Mr. Prajjwal Kushwah
Ms. Imon Roy Mr. Achyut Tiwari Ms.
Kanupriya Chawla, Mr. Swastik
Bisarya Mr. Rohil Bansal Mr. Shivang
Sharma, Advs.
Mr Pravin Anand, Advs.
versus
ASHOK KUMAR & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Moazzam Khan, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Ms.
Aishwarya Jain, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal. Ms. Anvita Goel, Mr.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 8 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Prince Kumar, Advs for Go Daddy.
Mr. Moazzam Khan, Mr. Alipak
Banerjee Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Parva
Khare, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal, Ms.
Anvita Goel, Mr. Prince Kumar, Mr.
Amrit Bhatia Advs.
Mr. Tushar Singh & Ms. Trisha
Patnaik, Advocates for D-25.
Mr. Surinder Singh, Adv. for D-29 (M-
9311325398)
Ms. Kruttika Vijay and Ms. Aishwarya
Kane, Advs for D-17.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
(20) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 700/2019 & I.As. 17945/2019, 1876/2020
XIAOMI TECHNOLOGY INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED
& ANR. ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Peeyoosh Kalra, Mr. C.A. Brijesh,
Mr. Krisna Gambhir, Ms. Simranjot
Kaur, Advocates (M:9899320646)
Mr. Ishith Arora, Adv. (M.
9654451996)
Versus
WWW.XIAOMI-INDIA.XYZ& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Shikha Sarin & Mr. Paras
Malhotra, Advs. (M: 9910485840)
Mr. Abhishek Parashar, In person. (M:
9319317578)
Mr. Manish Mohan, CGSC.
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal Advocates for D-29.
Ms. Yashika Kapoor and Mr. Parshant
Arora, Advs. for VI.
(21) WITH
+ CS(COMM) 250/2020 and I.A. 2285/2024
STAR INDIA PVT. LTD. & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 9 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan &
Mr. Rohil Bansal, Advs.
versus
OXIBUZZ.COM & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Akshita Jain, Adv. for D-1
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Adv. with
Ms. Swati Agarwal, Ms. Ritika Bansal
& Mr. Vaarish Sawlani, Advs for D-3-
4.
Mr. Mrinal Ojha, Mr. Debarshi Dutta,
Mr. Anand Raja Adv, Ms. Tanta
Chaudhry. Mr. Shivam Tiwari & Mr.
Samyak Bilala Advs.
Mr. Danish Faraz Khan, Mr. Abhigyan
Siddhant & Mr. Rahul Sharma, Advs.
for UOI with Mr. Tanmay Nirmal,
Manager legal.
Mr. Vikrant N. Goyal and Mr. Nitin,
Advs. (M:995322888)
(22) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 255/2020
INDIAMART INTERMESH LIMITED .... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal and Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates.
versus
MR. AKASH VERMA & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr Neel Mason, Mr Ankit Rastogi, Mr
Siddharth Vardhman, Mr Udit Tewari
Adv. for D-2. (M: 9399304251).
Mr. Rishi Kapoor & Ms. Yashika
Kapoor, Advocates for D-3.
Ms. Meenakshi Dutta, Mr. Anupam
Kumar Mishra & Mr. Gautam
Harshwal, Advs. for D-4 & 7.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 10 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Mr. Ankit Rastogi and Mr. Udit
Tewari, Adv. for D-2 (M:
9711137357)
Mr. Saransh, Adv. for Ms. Nandita
Rao, ASC (Crnl.), GNCTD.
Mr. Anupam Kumar Mishra and Ms.
Keya Rawat, Advocates.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
(23) AND
+ CS (COMM) 324/2020 & I.As.6950/2020, 12588/2020, 11510/2021
MCDONALDS CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Ms. Rima Majumdar, Ms. Shilpi Sinha
and Mr. Aaditya Vats, Advocates.
versus
NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE OF INDIA
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Shubhendu Anand, Mr. Akshat
Kaushik, Mr. Piyush M. Dwivedi
Advocate for D-1.
Mr. Vivek Jain & Mr. Aastha Tiwari,
Ms. Tulasi Mukhi, Advocates for D-18
& 28 (M9811426480).
Mr. Kartik Bhalla, Adv. for ICICI
Bank (M. 9818707178)
Mr. Jaydip Pati, Advocate for D-24.
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal for D-5, 2, 6 7, & 8.
Mr. Ravi Prakash, CGSC with Mr.
Sahonwlah Farmani Ali, Advocate for
D-35&36 (M-9469448888)
Mr. Santosh Kumar Rout, Ms Dharna
Veragi, Mr. B. N. Mishra & Ms. Shilpa
Chaursia, Advs. for D-13 to 17, 22, 26,
27, 31)
Mr Rajiv Kapur & Mr Akshit Kapur,
Mr Tushar Bagga, Advocates.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 11 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Mr Yashu Rustagi, Adv. for BOB.
Mr. Moazzam Khan, Mr. Alipak
Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Parva
Khare, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal Ms.
Anvita Goel Mr. Prince Kumar Mr.
Amrit Bhatia Advs. for D-5.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Tushar Singh & Ms. Trisha
Patnaik, Advocates for D-25.
Mr. Rajat Katyal & Mr. Harsh Sinha,
Adv. for Yes Bank.
Mr. Rishabh Dev Mishra, Adv. for
Bharti Airtel Limited.
Mr. Ateev Kumar Mathur & Mr. Amol
Sharma, Advocates
Sh. V. K Gupta, Sh. Sunil Shukla &
Ms. Kaushiki Kashyap Advs for D-57
(M: 95822 06578).
Mr. Harsh Sinha, Adv. for Yes Bank.
Mr. Sanjay Gupta, Mr. Ateev Mathur,
Mr. Amol Sharma, Mr. Aman
Siwasiya & Mr. Tanmay Garg, Advs.
for D-37. (M: 9958609042)
Dr. B. Ramaswamy, CGSC for IFSO.
Mr. Amit Tiwari, Mr. Vikram Singh
Dalal, Mr. Ayush Tanwar, Ms. Ayushi
Srivastava and Mr. Pratham Chawla,
Advs. for D-35 & 36
(24) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 424/2020 & I.A. 20247 /2022, O.A.85/2024
SHOPPERS STOP LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Ms. Sanya Kapoor, Adv.
(M:9810907412)
versus
M/S SHOPPERSTOP & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. P.S. Sudheer & Ms. Anne
Mathew, Advs. for D-5.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 12 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Mr. Moazzam Khan, Mr. Alipak
Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Parva
Khare & Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal Adv.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
(26) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 399/2021 & I.A. 10855/2021
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal & Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates.
versus
NITIN KUMAR SINGH & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Ankur Prakash, Ms. Simran Gill,
Mr. Yudhishthir Bhardwaj, Mr.
Dhananjay, Mr. Amod Bidhuri & Mr.
Saquib Siddiqui, Advocates for D-1
Mr. Akshit Chaudhary, Adv. for D-5.
Mr. Ramnish Khanna, Adv. for D-7.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Bhagwan Swarup Shukla, CGSC
with Mr. Sravan Kumar & Mr. Satyam
Singh, Advs. for UOI/D-18 & 19.
Mr. K.K. Singh, Advocate for D-27.
Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu and Mr. Tushar
Bhardwaj, Advs for Reliance Jio.
Ms. Radhika Bishwajit Dubey, CGSC,
Ms. Gurleen Kaur Waraich & Mr.
Karan Khetani, Advs.
(27) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 524/2021 & I.A. 13715/2021, 4506/2022
KAMDHENU LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Amit Chanchal Jha, Adv.
Mr. Nikhil Sonker, Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 13 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
(M:7726021194)
Mr. Sudarshan Kumar Bansal & Mr.
Arpit Dudeja, Advs. (M. 9810132015)
Mr. Vikrant N. Goyal and Mr. Nitin,
Advs.
versus
RAGHUNATH VIRDHARAM BISHNOI AND ORS. .... Defendants
Through: Mr. Rishabh Gupta and Mr. Abhishek
Kumar Singh, Advocates.
Mr. Lakshy Aggarwal, Adv. for D-3.
Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. Vihan Dang, and
Ms. Aditi Umapathy, Advocates
Mr. Rishi Kapoor and Mr. Satish Rai,
Advocates for D-3. (M:8368148214)
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal Advocates for D-8.
Mr. K.G. Gopalakrishnan & Ms. Nisha
Mohandas, Advs for D-7.
Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advocates for
D-10 (M-99101983636)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Sudarshan Kumar Bansal and Mr.
Nikhil Sonker, Advocates.
Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu and Mr. Tushar
Bhardwaj, Advs. for Reliance Jio.
Ms. Yashika Kapoor and Mr. Parshant
Arora, Advocates for VI.
(28) WITH
+ CS(COMM) 12/2022, I.As.263/2022 & 20922/2022
NEW BALANCE ATHLETICS INC ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Urfee Roomi and Mr. Ayush
Dixit, Advocates (M: 7011629381).
versus
NBSTORESININDIA.IN & ORS. ..... Defendant
Through: Mr. Sandeep Kumar Mahapatra, Adv,
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 14 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
CGSC; Mr. Tribhuvan, Adv for D-15
Mr. Apoorv Kurup, CGSC; Ms. Nidhi
Mittal; Ms. Muskaan Gupta, Advs. for
D-16 (M. 8826584325)
Mr Naveen Kumar Jain, Adv. D-17
Mr Shivam Narang, Adv. for D-26
Mr. Akshay Goel, Ms. Vishali Nahar,
Mr. Paras Arora, Advs. for D-13.
Mr. Rakesh Kumar CGSC with Mr.
Sunil Adv. (M: 9811549455)
(29) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 26/2022 & I.As.612-13/2022, 954/2022
HT MEDIA LTD ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal and Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates. (M:8017571175)
versus
POOJA SHARMA & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr Firoz Iqbal Khan, Mohd Shad
Advocate, Advs. for D-4
Mr. Rishabh Dev Mishra, Advocate
for Bharti Airtel Limited
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal Advs. for D-19.
Mr Anand Kumar Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advs for D-20.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. Vihan Dang,
and Ms. Aditi Umapathy, Advocates
Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advocate for Airtel.
Mr Suaib Ahmed Khan and MD Shad,
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 15 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Advs.
Mr. Mohd Shad, Mr. Firoz Gandhi
along with Defendant no. 4.
(30) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 35/2022 & I.As.819/2022, 3168/2022, 4738/2022,
8767/2022, 48352/2024, 49655/2024
KAJARIA CERAMICS LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Ms. Rima Majumdar, Mr. Aditya Vats
and Ms. Shilpi Sinha, Advs.
versus
GODADDY.COM LLC & ORS. ..... Defendant
Through: Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal Advs. for D-1.
Mr. Sandhya Chawla, Adv. for D-2.
Mr. Rishabh Dev Mishra, Adv. for
Bharti Airtel.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Lakshy Aggarwal, Adv. for d-4
Ms. Kirti Bhardwaj, Adv. for D-5(b).
Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir, Advocate (M-9810455716)
Mr. Santosh Kumar Rout, Ms Dharna
Veragi, Mr. B. N. Mishra & Ms. Shilpa
Chaursia, Advs. for D-6.
Ms. Yashika Kapoor and Mr. Parshant
Arora, Advocates for VI.
Dr. B. Ramaswamy, CGSC for IFSO.
(31) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 233/2022 & I.As. 5780-81/2022
BAJAJ FINACE LTD & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal and Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 16 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
versus
NIKO DAS & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advs. for D-3.
Mr Prashant Prakash, Mr. Varun
Pathak, Ms. Amee Rana, and Mr.
Vishesh Sharma, Advs. for D-4.
Mr. Lakshy Aggarwal, Adv. for D-7.
Mr. Rishabh Dev Mishra, Advocate
for Bharti Airtel Limited.
Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. V. Dang & Ms.
Aditi, Advs. for D-3. (M:9971586598)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advocate for Airtel.
Ms. Yashika Kapoor and Mr. Parshant
Arora, Advocates for VI.
Mr. Varun Chugh & Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
(32) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 275/2022 & I.As. 6535-36/2022
HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal and Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates.
versus
UNILEVERR1.IN & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Rishabh Dev Mishra, Advocate
for Bharti Airtel Limited.
Mr. Rahul Chauhan, Ms. Aishwarya
Mishra Advocates for D-21.
Ms. Asiya Khan, Advocate for D-25
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 17 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advocate for Airtel.
Mr Chandrashekhar Chakalabbi, Ms
Aishwarya Hiremath & Varnik
Kundaliya, Advs. for D-20.
Mr. M.K. Tiwari and Mr. R Mishra,
Advs. for D-18 & 19.
Mr. Varun Chugh and Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
(33) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 364/2022 & I.As. 8518-20/2022, 12855/2022
AMAZON SELLER SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED
& ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Sidharth Chopra, Mr. Nitin
Sharma, Mr. Yatin Garg, Mr. Ranjeet
Singh, Mr. Vivek Ayyagari, Mr.
Angad Makkar, Mr. M. J. Sudarshan,
Ms. Ramya Aggarwal and Mr. Sohrab
Mann, Advocates.
versus
AMAZONBUYS.IN & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Raghav Awasthi, Adv. for D-5.
Mr. Navneet Mishra, Adv. for Ms.
Ritu Mishra Adv. for D-6 (M:
9318374047).
Mr. Prashant Prakash, Adv. for D-7.
Ms Yukti Gupta, Adv. for HDFC Bank
Mr. Mrinal Ojha, Mr. Debarshi Dutta,
Mr. Arjun Mookerjee, Mr. Nikhil
Gupta, Ms. Nikita Rathi, Mr. Rishabh
Agarwal and Mr. Yogesh Singh, Advs
for D-8 (M-9167094381)
Mr. Shashi Shekhar Dixit, Adv. for D-
10.
Mr. Vineet Dhanda, CGSC with Mr.
Abhishek Singh, Adv. for UOI/D-18
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 18 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
& 19.
Mr. Harshal Arora, Adv. for D-5.
Mr. Varun Pathak, Ms. Amee Rana, &
Mr. Vishesh Sharma, Advs. for D-4.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advocate for Airtel.
Mr. Sharique Hussain, Adv. for HDFC
Ms Ritu Mishra, Advocate for D-6
Canara Bank (M- 9873796792)
Mr. Varun Chugh and Ms. Shagun
Chugh, Advs. for Mr. Utsava Magotra,
Adv.
Mr. Nishant Gautam (CGSC), Mr.
Dhruv Joshi, Mr. Vinay Kaushik and
Mr. Vipul Verma, Advs.
(35) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 389/2022 & I.As. 9069/2022, 12578/2022
THE CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES, INC ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Naqeeb Nawab & Mr. Ashutosh
Ranga, Advs. (M: 8209086773)
versus
ASHOK KUMAR & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Nidhi Raman CGSC with Mr.
Zubin Singh, Mr. Arnav Mittal and
Mr. Akash Mishra, Adv for D-4 & 5.
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal for D-12 (M: 9987115749)
Mr. Prashant Prakash, Advo. for D-19.
Mr. Nishant Gautam (CGSC), Mr.
Dhruv Joshi, Mr. Vinay Kaushik and
Mr. Vipul Verma, Advs.
Mr. Varun Pathak, Ms. Amee Rana, &
Ms. Vibhuti Vasisth, Advs. for D-23
Mr Yogesh Pachauri, Adv. for D-24
(36) WITH
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 19 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
+ CS (COMM) 113/2023 & I.As. 4200/2023, 21659/2023
INDIAN FARMERS FERTILISER COOPERATIVE ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Abhishek Singh, Mr. J. Amal
Anand, Mr. Elvin Joshy, Ms. Alisha
Sharma, Mr. Shashwat Tyagi & Mr. K.
V. Vibu Prasad, Advs. (M.
8447960358).
versus
REGISTRANT OF IFFCOFRANCHISE.COM & ORS .. Defendants
Through: Mr. Rajshekhar Rao Sr. Adv with Ms.
Tine Abraham, Ms. Shivani Rawat,
Mr. Mohanakrishna C., Mr. Abhi Udai
Singh, Mr. Harshil Wason, Advocates
for D-33. (M: 8054452858)
Mr Varun Pathak, Mr Shyamal Anand,
Mr. Thejesh Rajendran, Mr Tejpal
Singh Rathore, Adv. for D-34
Mr Nitinjya Chaudhry, Sr Panel
Counsel with Mr Rahul Mourya, Adv.
for D-35 & 36 (M: 9810103680).
Mr. Susmit Pushkar, Mr. Anchit
Oswal, Mr. Gaurav Sharma, Ms.
Naina Agarwal, Advs. for D-38.
Mr. Ramesh Babu with Ms. Manisha
Singh, Mohd. Shaurakh, Ms. Tanya
Chowdhary & Ms. Jagriti Bharti,
Advs. for D-39
Mr. Mrinal Ojha, Mr. Debarshi Dutta,
Mr. Arjun Mookerjee, Mr. Nikhil
Gupta, Ms. Nikita Rathi, Mr. Rishabh
Agarwal and Mr. Yogesh Singh, Advs.
for D-27.
Mr. Arun Aggarwal, Mr. Shivam Saini
& Mr. Satyadev Prakash, Advs. for D-
15 (M: 9811087995)
(37) AND
+ CS (COMM) 610/2023 & I.A. 16723/2023, 647/2024
CRESSET CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LLC & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 20 of 33
By:DHIRENDER KUMAR
Signing Date:18.02.2025
19:03
Through: Mr. Sourabh Rath & Mr. Vibhore
Yadav, Advs. (M: 9811531248)
versus
REGISTRANT OF WWW.CRESSETCAPITAL.IN ,
WWW.CRESSETINDIALIVE.LIVE & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Mrinal Ojha, Mr. Debarshi Dutta,
Mr. Arjun Mookerjee, Mr. Nikhil
Gupta, Ms. Nikita Rathi, Mr. Rishabh
Agarwal and Mr. Yogesh Singh, Advs.
for D-6.
Mr. Amit Tiwari, Mr. Vikram Singh
Dalal, Mr. Ayush Tanwar, Ms. Ayushi
Srivastava and Mr. Pratham Chawla,
Advs.
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode. I.A.1435/2024 (for delay) in CS (COMM) 176/2021
2. This is an application filed on behalf of the Defendant No.24 - Wix.com Ltd. under Section 5 of the Limitation Act, 1963 seeking condonation of delay of 112 days in filing the written statement in the subject suit. The Defendant No. 24 has its registered office in Tel Aviv, Israel.
3. The present application was considered on 3 rd September, 2024, and after hearing the parties, in order to verify when the Defendant No.24 was first served, the Registry was directed to put up a report as to when the summons were served through email. The Registry has put up a report to the following effect:
"With reference to the service of summons issued in terms of order dated 16.04.2021, it is submitted that the summons was served to defendant no 5 to 32 through Receipt and Despatch Branch through email. But, upon Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 21 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 cross checking the delivery report of email, it has been found that the email ID of defendant no 24 i.e. [email protected] was not entered by the then dealing assistant of R&D Branch and hence the summons could not be effected upon the defendant no 24 i.e. wix.com. The copy of summons and email is attached herewith. The inconvenience caused to the hon'ble court is deeply regretted."
4. A perusal of the above would show that there was an error by the Registry in sending summons through email and Defendant No.24 was not sent the summons through email along with other Defendants. In view thereof, there was no service of summons on the Defendant No. 24 in this matter.
5. Ld. Counsel for the Plaintiff submits that the Defendant admits to have been served in August, 2023 and even thereafter the written statement was filed belatedly.
6. Considering that these matters involve complex issues and the Defendant No.24 is a company from Israel, the written statement having been filed within the overall period of 120 days from the service in August, 2023, the present application is allowed. The written statement is taken on record.
7. Application is disposed of in above terms.
CS (COMM) 176/2021
8. List on 5th April, 2025.
I.A. 1084/2025 in CS (COMM) 298/2019
9. This is an application filed on behalf of the Plaintiffs under Order XI Rule 1(5) and 1(12) of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 seeking leave to place additional documents on record.
10. Considering that applications seeking interim injunction are currently being heard, the additional documents are taken on record, subject to them Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 22 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 being proved in accordance with law at the stage of trial, if so required.
11. The application is allowed and disposed of in above terms. CS (COMM) 20/2019 & I.A.561/2019 CS (COMM) 176/2021 CS (COMM) 475/2022 & I.As.10851-52/2022, 12173/2022 CS(COMM) 193/2019 & I.As.5399/2019, 11497/2019, 18216/2019, 15451/2021, 6069/2022, 31775/2024 CS (COMM) 297/2019 CS (COMM) 298/2019 & I.As. 8189/2019, 13215/2019, 13631/2019, 15695-96/2019, 14210/2021, 16707/2021 CS (COMM) 732/2019 & I.As. 3865/2020, 9234/2020 CS (COMM) 498/2020 & I.A.10520-21/2020 CS (COMM) 82/2020 & I.A. 2402/2020 CS (COMM) 276/2021 & I.A.7329/2021 CS (COMM) 293/2021 & I.As.7543/2021 CS (COMM) 95/2021 & I.A. 21025/2022, 6516/2023 CS (COMM) 700/2019 & I.As. 17945/2019, 1876/2020 CS(COMM) 250/2020 and I.A. 2285/2024 CS (COMM) 255/2020 CS (COMM) 324/2020 & I.As.6950/2020, 12588/2020, 11510/2021 CS (COMM) 424/2020 & I.A. 20247 /2022, O.A.85/2024 CS (COMM) 399/2021 & I.A. 10855/2021 CS (COMM) 524/2021 & I.A. 13715/2021, 4506/2022 CS(COMM) 12/2022, I.As.263/2022 & 20922/2022 CS (COMM) 26/2022 & I.As.612-13/2022, 954/2022 CS (COMM) 35/2022 & I.As.819/2022, 3168/2022, 4738/2022, 8767/2022, 48352/2024, 49655/2024 CS (COMM) 233/2022 & I.As. 5780-81/2022 CS (COMM) 275/2022 & I.As. 6535-36/2022 CS (COMM) 364/2022 & I.As. 8518-20/2022, 12855/2022 CS (COMM) 389/2022 & I.As. 9069/2022, 12578/2022 CS (COMM) 113/2023 & I.As. 4200/2023, 21659/2023 CS (COMM) 610/2023 & I.A. 16723/2023, 647/2024 Directions qua GoDaddy.com LLC and Verisign Inc.
12. On 7th February, 2025, after considering the submissions of the parties in respect of the powers of the Domain Name Registrars vis-a-vis the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 23 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 Registries to block and lock a particular word string from being registered as domain names, the Court had observed as under:
"19. On 21st December, 2024, Mr. Pravin Anand, ld. Counsel, had placed a compilation before the Court and had highlighted services such as "GlobalBlock" and "GlobalBlock+", which as per the ld. Counsel are being provided by GoDaddy.com LLC to provide protection to brands against unauthorised registration including for those which provide deceptively similar brands, homoglyph, variations and domain names with typographical errors of brands. The ld. Counsel had also placed reliance on the stand of Verisign Inc. in CS(Comm) 197/2024 wherein Verisign Inc., as a Registry, has taken the position that the issues relating to blocking of domain names are purely in the domain of the DNR itself and not the Registry.
20. In view of the above submissions, the Court had directed GoDaddy.com LLC to file an affidavit in respect of the services mentioned by Mr. Anand and on the difference between DNR and Domain Registry.
21. Pursuant to the said directions, the present affidavit sworn by Mr. John Massey has been filed by GoDaddy.com LLC. The said affidavit has been perused by the Court and Mr. Wadhwa, ld. Sr. Counsel has made his submissions in respect of the same.
22. It is the submission of Mr. Wadhwa, ld. Sr. Counsel that the services "GlobalBlock" and "GlobalBlock+"
are being provided by Brand Safety Alliance LLC, a subsidiary of the parent company of GoDaddy.com LLC i.e., Registry Services LLC. The said entity - Brand Safety Alliance LLC, is stated to have agreements with various Registries in order to execute the said services. It is also submitted by Mr. Wadhwa, ld. Sr. Counsel that the blocking of domain names containing particular word-string would be implementable only by a Registry and not by a DNR."
Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 24 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:0313. Pursuant to the order dated 7th February, 2025, notice was issued to the two Registries i.e., Registry Services LLC and Verisign, Inc., both the said parties have entered appearance before the Court. Mr. Chander Lall, ld. Sr. counsel appearing for Verisign, Inc. submits that he would like to file an affidavit explaining the role of Verisign, Inc. and also the steps that can be undertaken by Verisign, Inc. if directions are given by the Court.
14. Specifically, both these parties i.e., Registry Services LLC and Verisign, Inc., shall file their affidavits in respect of the following aspects:
i. The domain name extensions that the said Registries manage and supervise;
ii. Whether in respect of the said domain name extensions, orders for suspension, locking, blocking and transfer of the domain names can be implemented by them in respect of existing infringing domain names;
iii. Whether the said Registries can also implement orders injuncting registration of infringing domain names in the future which contain the brands/trademarks as may be directed by the Court in the form of a TLD/word string.
15. In addition, National Internet Exchange of India (hereinafter "NIXI") shall also file an affidavit in respect of the above directions.
16. At the moment, the said two registries are not being impleaded in any suit of the present batch matters. Upon consideration of the affidavits which they file, the Court shall pass further orders in this regard.
17. Let the said affidavits be filed by 15th March, 2025. Beneficiary Name Lookup Facility
18. On the last date of hearing i.e., 7th February, 2025, in respect of the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 25 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 'Beneficiary Name Lookup Facility' the ld. Counsel for the Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter "RBI") had drawn attention of the Court to the Circular dated 30th December, 2024 titled "Introduction of beneficiary bank account name look-up facility for Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) Systems". In addition, the ld. Counsel for RBI had also pointed out the instructions issued by RBI to the banks for extending the beneficiary name lookup facility to RTGS and NEFT. In respect of the same, the Court was informed that the said beneficiary name lookup facility would be fully implemented by 1st April, 2025 and would cover RTGS, NEFT, internet banking and mobile banking.
19. The Court vide order dated 7th February, 2025 passed the following directions in respect of the above circular and instructions issued by the RBI:
"8. In this regard, the Court has also heard the submissions of Mr. Susmit Pushkar, ld. Counsel appearing for National Payments Corporation of India (hereinafter "NCPI") who submits that he has received the copy of the circular dated 30th December, 2024 from RBI during the course of proceedings today. The ld. Counsel submits that NPCI would place an affidavit on record as to how the NPCI would be implementing this circular in terms of the deadline.
9. Further, let the said affidavit on behalf of NPCI also address the process of verification of the name of the account holder before initiating the transaction and the manner in which the same would be implemented.
10. Let a competent official of the NPCI remain present in Court on the next date of hearing. [...]
12. Today, Mr. Sanjay Gupta, ld. Counsel has appeared and submits that he would obtain instructions and file a report by the next date of hearing in respect of the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 26 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 implementation of the circular dated 30th December, 2024 by the banks represented by him.
13. Insofar as the Indian Bank Association (hereinafter "IBA") is concerned, Mr. Rajesh Kumar Gautam, ld. Counsel has appeared through VC. An affidavit has also been placed on record on behalf of the IBA in terms of the order dated 21st December, 2024. The same is taken on record and will be considered on the next date.
14. Further, let the IBA also file a report by the next date of hearing in respect of the circular dated 30th December, 2024 issued by the RBI. A competent official of the IBA shall also remain present before the Court, either physically or virtually, on the next date of hearing.
15. At this stage, Mr. Khan, ld. Counsel has brought to the notice of the Court a communication by the NPCI dated 26th June, 2020 wherein certain steps have been taken to mitigate risks by misleading VPAs/UPI ids. One of the reference list of keywords includes brand names which are registered with the trademarks authority.
16. Let the affidavit being filed on behalf of NPCI also address the stand of the NPCI in respect of the above communication and as to how this is being done. The IBA shall also address in its respective report its stand qua the communication of NPCI dated 26th June, 2020 and how it is being implemented across all banks.
17. It is made clear that the affidavits to be filed by NPCI and IBA shall take into consideration all relevant aspects arising from the circular of the RBI dated 30th December 2024, steps for giving information to LEAs and in respect of the communication dated 26th June 2020."
20. Pursuant to the aforesaid directions, from the National Payments Corporation of India (hereinafter "NPCI"), Mr. Ajay Shyam Pal, In-Charge Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 27 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 Products and Mr. Nitesh S.K., Lead Product Development, are present in Court. Further, Mr. Pushkar, ld. Counsel appearing for the NPCI has filed an affidavit explaining the manner in which the beneficiary account name lookup services to be implemented by the banks. A copy of the said affidavit has been handed over in Court and the same is taken on record. The affidavit of NPCI states as under:
"A Process of beneficiary account name lookup service
5. That NPCI has taken the following steps for the development of the facility in terms of the RBI Circular:
a. To implement the beneficiary account name look-up facility, an Application Programming Interface ("API") has been developed by NPCI. This API will be provided to the banks. This API shall ensure that the beneficiary's account name (as recorded by the beneficiary's bank in its CBS upon successful KYC of the customer as per the RBI's KYC Master Directions) is made visible to the remitter prior to making the payment through RTGS/NEFT.
b. The API would be invoked by the remitting bank to NPCI Switch which shall then forward the request to the corresponding beneficiary bank. Based on the response received from the beneficiary bank, the response shall be sent to the remitter bank through NPCI switch. NPCI has developed this facility to fetch the beneficiary's name based on the account number and IFSC of the beneficiary provided by the remitter to the remitter bank.
c. The process flow of the API developed by NPCI to implement the beneficiary account name look- up facility in NEFT and RTGS is as under:Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 28 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03
i. Remitter initiates request: The remitter requests for verification of beneficiary account name at the time of initiating a transaction or registering the beneficiary or revalidation of the registered beneficiary by entering beneficiary's account number and IFSC.
ii. Remitting bank initiates Request for Beneficiary Details to NPCI: Upon authorization, the remitting bank initiates the request for beneficiary details to NPCI switch.
iii. Request Processing: The NPCI switch carries out structural validations such as field length, schema format, presence of mandatory fields and checks for beneficiary bank availability in the system. If all the checks are passed, the NPCI switch routes Request for Beneficiary Details to beneficiary bank based on IFSC. If the details provided in the request are invalid or incomplete, then NPCI switch sends a decline response back to the remitting bank with appropriate error code.
iv. Beneficiary Account Name Lookup: The beneficiary bank receives the Request for Beneficiary Details from the NPCI switch and fetches beneficiary account name from the CBS.
V. Response to Request for Beneficiary Details sent to NPCI switch: Beneficiary bank initiates the response to request for beneficiary details to NPCI switch with beneficiary account name fetched based on the account number. If the beneficiary's name is not fetched due to any reason such as invalid account Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 29 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 number or account closure or consent not provided by the beneficiary, etc., the beneficiary bank sends a decline response (as per response codes provided by NPCI).
vi. Response to Request for Beneficiary Details forwarded to remitter bank: The NPCI switch forwards the beneficiary details to the remitting bank.
vii. Display to remitter: The remitting bank shall display to the remitter/ customer of the remitting bank only the name of the beneficiary.
viii. Timeout Handling: If there is a timeout during any stage of the query processing (e.g., network issues, system overload), the NPCI switch initiates a timeout response. The remitting bank receives the timeout response and may attempt to resend the query or handle the timeout scenario according to predefined protocols.
6. That NPCI's role is limited to defining specifications for beneficiary account name lookup service, certifying banks for technical integration related to lookup service, routing of remitter bank request for beneficiary account name lookup service to the beneficiary's bank, routing of response shared by beneficiary bank back to the remitter's bank, message level validation to check that the structure of the data is as prescribed and mapping of error code and response code. It is submitted that no data is stored by NPCI.
B) Steps taken by NPCI for implementation of the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 30 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 RBI Circular
7. Implementation of beneficiary account name lookup involves the following:
a. NPCI has developed the API and shared with banks. A simulator environment was also made available to banks to test this API.
b. Banks need to develop the API as per specifications shared by NPCI and test in the simulator environment.
c. Upon completion of testing, banks need to deploy this facility in their channels and CBS.
d. Banks need to upgrade their net banking and mobile banking channels to provide this facility to their customers.
8. Steps for the implementation of beneficiary look up facility:
a. NPCI and RBI have been following up with banks continuously through meetings and email communications to ensure that this facility is made available to bank customers before the timeline issued in the RBI guideline.
b. Recurring calls and workshops are conducted with banks and their service providers to ensure daily query resolution and support extension to banks from time to time.
c. Banks are at various stages of development and testing of the facility."
21. Insofar as UPI IDs and VPAs are concerned, Mr. Pushkar, ld. Counsel submits that the beneficiary name lookup facility is already available on those platforms and whenever transactions are conducted, the name of the Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 31 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 beneficiary appears on the App itself before making the payment. The name of the recipient would also be clearly visible to the person making the payment. He submits that the creation of UPI Ids or the VPAs is the responsibility of the respective banks and not of NPCI, accordingly, it is up to the banks, who permit registration of the IDs, to ensure that there is no violation or use of key words which are impermissible.
22. It is noted that one of the important features of this affidavit is Annexure 1 which contains the indicative reference list of key words not to be allowed to individuals. The said list also contains names/marks of well known brands or companies which cannot be permitted to be registered as IDs of account holders without the permission of the said entity/brand holder.
Further, the said list also includes various websites and well-known marks, organizational names, Government bodies, corporate designations which are not to be registered.
23. It is submitted by ld. Counsel for NPCI that the said list is only an indicative list prepared by NPCI for the information of the banks and the same is not a definitive list. It is also submitted that the directions to the respective bank would have to be issued by the Court for refraining from registering a particular string of words. The NPCI does not have the power to implement the same.
24. Considering the said submissions, let the ld. Counsel for the NPCI take instructions as to whether upon a Court being satisfied that a brand or a mark has acquired a status which is well known and there ought to be an order directing that no individuals should be allowed to register bank accounts or UPI Ids or VPAs with the said brand names, an advisory can be issued by the NPCI to all banks in this regard, which would thereafter have to be Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 32 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03 implemented by the banks themselves.
25. The officials of the NPCI are discharged from personal appearance until further directions.
Directions in the suits
26. Pursuant to the order passed on 7th February, 2025, today, the Court had heard and decided applications in the individual suits where urgent reliefs were pressed for by the respective Plaintiffs.
27. Accordingly, individual orders have also been passed in the CS(COMM) 350/2020, CS(COMM) 228/2021, CS(COMM)135/2022, CS(COMM) 490/2022, CS(COMM)373/2020, CS(COMM) 154/2021, CS(COMM) 471/2020 and CS(COMM) 303,2022. However, the present order would also be applicable to the said suits as well.
28. List on 5th April, 2025.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGE FEBRUARY 15, 2025 dj/ms Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed CS (COMM) 20/2019 & connected matters Page 33 of 33 By:DHIRENDER KUMAR Signing Date:18.02.2025 19:03