Delhi High Court - Orders
Vrockmobile Communications Pvt Ltd vs Reliance Communications Limited & Anr on 31 October, 2023
Author: Prathiba M. Singh
Bench: Prathiba M. Singh
$~33
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM) 535/2018 & I.A. 13725/2011
VROCKMOBILE COMMUNICATIONS PVT LTD
..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Nanju Ganpathy, Sr Adv, Mr.
Manpreet Lamba, & Ms. Shivani
Sharma, Advs (M. 9643398454)
versus
RELIANCE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED & ANR
..... Defendant
Through: Mr. Chaitanya Safaya, Mr. Manu
Krishan, Ms. Madhavi Agarwal,
Advs. (D- 1) (M. 9999194050)
Ms. Radha Rangaswamy, Mr.
Raman Kumar, Advs (D-2)
(M. 9810031380)
Ms. Radha Rangaswamy and Mr.
Raman Kumar, Advs. (D-2)
(M.9810031380)
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
ORDER
% 31.10.2023
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. The present suit has a checkered history. The suit was filed by the Plaintiff - vRockMobile Communications seeking a permanent injunction restraining the Defendants-Reliance Communications Ltd., Board of Control for Cricket in India ('BCCI') and OnMobile Global Ltd. inter alia from providing value-added services ('VAS') like score alerts, contests, match commentary relating to IPL matches, without any license from the Plaintiff.
3. Vide order dated 9th May 2011, the Defendant No.1 was granted permission to provide SMS and IVRS services on its network for IPL-IV, CS(COMM) 535/2018 Page 1 of 4 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/11/2023 at 22:59:26 with the condition of making a provisional payment of 25% of the revenue from such services. Thereafter on 13th May 2011, Defendant No.1 agreed to deposit Rs.40,00,000/- with the worthy Registrar General of this Court concerning the provision of these services for IPL-IV. The deposit was contingent upon the Defendant No.1 providing an account of the revenue from these services. Thereafter, vide order dated 15th April 2014, for IPL- VII, the Defendant No.1 was directed to deposit Rs.40,00,000/- within three days if they wanted to provide services for IPL-VII.
4. Thereafter, the matter was adjourned from time to time as the issue under consideration was being considered by the Supreme Court in CA no. 10687/2018 titled 'Star India v. Akuate Internet Services Pvt. Ltd.'.
5. The Plaintiff was appearing in the matter regularly. On 24th January 2023, it was submitted that the ld. Counsel for the Plaintiff sought discharge in the matter.
6. Vide order dated 5th July 2023, this Court directed as follows:
"6. Pursuant to the said order, a sum of Rs. 40,00,000/- has been deposited by way of FDR on 18th May, 2011 which is lying before this Court.
7. Again, on 5th April, 2013 a further sum of Rs.40,00,000/- by way of pay order also appears to have been deposited. However, whether this amount replaced the earlier FDR or is an additional amount is not clear.
8. Let the Registry put up a note on the total amount deposited in this matter along with the interest which has accrued.
9. On the next date, if there is no appearance for the Plaintiff, the suit would be liable to be dismissed for non-prosecution. The I.A. is allowed."CS(COMM) 535/2018 Page 2 of 4
This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/11/2023 at 22:59:26
7. On 23rd August 2023, it was directed to the ld. Counsel appearing for the Union of India to ascertain the exact status of the Plaintiff from the MCA and file a report
8. Today, on behalf of the Plaintiff Mr. Ganpathy, ld. Senior Counsel has entered appearance, under instructions of Mr. Ramesh Awtaney, who is stated to have been served with notice sent by the Registry pursuant to the order dated 4th October, 2023.
9. As can be seen from the previous orders passed on by the Court, the ld. Counsel in this case has already sought discharge, and was discharged on 5th July, 2023. There has been no appearance on behalf of the Plaintiff and the Court has had to repeatedly issue notices.
10. Defendant No.1 has appeared through the Resolution Professional ('RP') and submits that the amounts lying with the worthy Registrar General ought to be released in favour of Defendant No.1.
11. On behalf of Union of India, a status report dated 30th October 2023 has been filed. The said status report disclosed that the directors of the Plaintiff are Mr. Jitender Pal Singh Kalra and Mr. Sudhir Kumar Loomba. The role of Mr. Awtaney is unclear. However, Mr. Ganpathy, ld. Senior Counsel submits that Mr. Awtaney is a 9.45% shareholder in the Plaintiff- company.
12. If so, let the Plaintiff first place on record an affidavit deposing its current shareholding, and giving details of the persons who are in control of the management of the Plaintiff-company, along with the vakalatnama.
13. In view of the fact that three hearings were held and considerable judicial time was expended to no avail, and the Plaintiff has now chosen to appear in the matter, costs of Rs.1 lakh is imposed on the Plaintiff. The costs CS(COMM) 535/2018 Page 3 of 4 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/11/2023 at 22:59:26 of Rs. 1 lakh shall be deposited by the Plaintiff- vRockMobile Communications with the Delhi High Court Legal Services Committee. The costs shall be paid within four weeks. Subject to the said costs being deposited, the Plaintiff is permitted to file an affidavit, as directed above, to demonstrate its interest to prosecute the present suit.
14. On behalf of the RP, if the Defendant No.1 wishes to file an application, the RP is free to do so.
15. List on 25th January, 2024.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J.
OCTOBER 31, 2023 Rahul/dn CS(COMM) 535/2018 Page 4 of 4 This is a digitally signed order.
The authenticity of the order can be re-verified from Delhi High Court Order Portal by scanning the QR code shown above. The Order is downloaded from the DHC Server on 01/11/2023 at 22:59:27