Delhi High Court - Orders
Nayan India Science And Technologies ... vs Mr Sunny Aggarwal And Ors on 23 October, 2020
Author: Rajiv Shakdher
Bench: Rajiv Shakdher
$~20
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CS(COMM)421/2020 & I.A. 9014/2020
NAYAN INDIA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES PRIVATE
LMITED .....Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Manish Sharma, Mr. Sandeep
Das, Ms. Suchita Vyas and Mr.
Moksha Bhat, Advs.
versus
MR SUNNY AGGARWAL AND ORS .....Defendants
Through: Counsel for D-1.
Mr. Gaurav Srivastava, Adv. for D-2.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SHAKDHER
ORDER
% 23.10.2020
[Physical Court Hearing]
1. Pursuant to the summons issued in the suit and notices in the application issued on previous date i.e. 07.10.2020, counsel for defendant no. 1 has entered appearance, while Mr. Srivastava has entered appearance on behalf of defendant no.2.
2. To be noted, defendant no.3 is the holding company of defendant no.2. Defendant no.3 is a company incorporated in Australia.
3. I have heard the counsel for the parties briefly. What has emerged is that defendant no. 1 was in employment of defendant no. 2 between 09.04.2018 and 31.07.2020.
4. Thereafter, defendant no.1 resigned from defendant no.2 and joined the plaintiff.
5. I am informed that defendant no.1 was employed by the plaintiff on Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.10.2020 21:08:40 04.08.2020 and that he put in his resignation on 12.08.2020.
6. The plaintiff is aggrieved by the fact that its artificial intelligence software is being used by defendant no.1 to further the interest of defendant nos.2 and 3.
7. Mr. Srivastava, who appears for defendant no.2 says that defendant no.1 has not been reemployed by the said defendant.
8. Counsel for defendant no.1 affirms this position and submits that defendant no.1 is now on his own and is taking up assignments as a freelancer.
9. Furthermore, counsel for defendant no.1 says that the plaintiff's software has been uninstalled by defendant no.1.
10. Besides this, Mr. Srivastava, says that he has instructions to convey to the Court that defendant no.1 will not use the plaintiff's software.
11. Mr. Sharma, who appears for the plaintiff says that the submissions made on behalf of the defendant no.1 by Mr. Srivastava needs to be verified. It is Mr. Sharma's contention that the device will have to be checked by a forensic expert and only, thereafter, can any credence be given to the stand taken before the court.
12. The statement made on behalf of defendant no.1 is taken on record.
13. I have heard the counsel for the parties. I am of the view that, for the moment, the submissions made on behalf of defendant no.1 should suffice. The statements made by counsel and the undertaking given on behalf of defendant no.1 are taken on record.
13.1 However, to check veracity of the statements made on behalf of the defendant no.1 by his counsel, Mr. Jayant Saran, Partner, Forensic (E-mail id - [email protected]) of Deloitte India is appointed as a forensic expert Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.10.2020 21:08:40 at the suggestion of Mr. Sharma. Counsel for defendant no.1 conveys he has no objection to the appointment of a forensic expert.
14. Defendant no.1 will, accordingly, allow the aforementioned forensic expert to gain access to his laptop to ascertain as to whether or not he has in fact (as claimed by his counsel) uninstalled plaintiff's AI software.
15. The forensic expert will, with prior appointment, obtain access to defendant no.1's laptop. After the laptop is examined, the forensic expert shall submit his report to the Court before the next date of hearing. Examination will be conducted by the forensic expert at a neutral venue.
16. It is made clear that the device will be checked in the presence of the plaintiff and defendant no.1.
17. Furthermore, the forensic expert will exclude defendant no.1's personal data from this exercise.
18. In addition to the above defendant no.1 is restrained from using the source code which concerns the plaintiff's AI software.
19. In the meanwhile, parties will complete the pleadings in the matter.
20. List the matter before the Joint Registrar (Judicial) on 09.11.2020.
21. List the matter before Court on 14.12.2020.
RAJIV SHAKDHER, J.
OCTOBER 23, 2020 rb Click here to check corrigendum, if any Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:28.10.2020 21:08:40