Delhi High Court - Orders
Infibeam Avenues Limited Formerly ... vs Government Emarketplace & Anr on 22 January, 2024
Author: Prathiba M. Singh
Bench: Prathiba M. Singh
$~49
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 29/2024, CAV 28/2024 & I.A. 1597/2024
INFIBEAM AVENUES LIMITED FORMERLY KNOWN
AS INFIBEAM INCORPORATION LIMITED ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Sr. Adv, Mr Akhil
Sibal, Sr. Adv, Mr. Ajay Bhargava,
Mr. Nirupam Lodha, Mr. Aseem
Chaturvedi, Mr. Gautam Wadhwa,
Ms. Phalguni Nigam, Mr. Saurabh
Seth Advs. (M. 9873122789)
versus
GOVERNMENT EMARKETPLACE & ANR. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. C. A. Sundaram, Sr. Adv, Mr.
Rajshekhar Rao, Sr. Adv, Mr. Rajat
Jariwal, Ms. Prerna Singh and Ms.
Shatakshi Tripathi, Advs. for R-1
(M. 9720367156)
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
ORDER
% 22.01.2024
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
CAV 28/20242. Since Respondent has entered appearance, Caveat is discharged. O.M.P.(I) (COMM.) 29/2024 and I.A. 1597/2024
3. The present petition has been filed under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 by the Petitioner- Infibeam Avenues Limited Formerly Known as Infibeam Incorporation Limited, seeking urgent interim measures. The present dispute arises out of a Master Service Agreement dated 1st September, 2017, which was concluded in June 2023. The dispute 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 25/01/2024 at 03:35:40 in the present matter pertains to an apprehension of ongoing utilization of the software components by the Respondents for the online platform, allegedly in contravention of the concluded contract. The Master Service Agreement (hereinafter, 'said agreement') was entered into between the Petitioner, Respondent No. 2 and Government EMarketPlace (hereinafter, 'GeM') through the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
4. It is stated that Respondent No. 2 i.e., Intellect Design Arena Limited (a cloud-native, API-led microservices-based multi-product platform) maintains the GeM Portal which is used by Government Authorities, PSU and a large number of corporations for the purposes of sourcing products and services.
5. In terms of the said agreement, the Petitioner had provided IT services to the Respondent No. 2 for creation of the GeM platform. Various Clauses in the agreement have been referred to by both ld. Sr. Counsels for the parties showing the manner in which rights in the intellectual property vests in the portal.
6. The said agreement came to an end in June 2023 and the Respondent No. 2 engaged a third party service provider i.e., M/s Tata Consultancy Services (hereinafter, 'TCS') for running, maintenance and for enhancement etc. of the GeM portal.
7. The apprehension expressed by Mr. Nayar, ld. Sr. Counsel for the Petitioner is that the software which was developed and designed by the Petitioner in which the Petitioner owns Copyright ought not to be misused by the current vendor of the Respondents for any unauthorised purposes. He submits that the Petitioner has no objection in the Respondents continuing to use the said software and platform and getting further work done from TCS 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 25/01/2024 at 03:35:40 on the said platform. The apprehension is that the same ought not to be used independent of the Respondent No.1's platform.
8. Mr. Sundaram, ld. Sr. Counsel on the other hand points to the Court that Respondent already has an agreement dated 13th July, 2023 with TCS wherein it has been made clear that the intellectual property which vests with the Respondents shall remain confidential and shall not be used for any unauthorised purpose.
9. In the opinion of this Court, after having perused the Clauses of the said agreement as also the new agreement with TCS, prima facie it appears that only apprehension of the Petitioner is that TCS ought not to use the software and IT platform of GeM portal for any unauthorised purposes or for its own purpose except for the purposes of maintaining and running the Respondents' platform.
10. Issue notice in these circumstances to M/s Tata Consultancy Services for appearance on the next date, so that the said service provider can also be heard before any order is passed.
11. Issue notice to TCS at Nirmal Building, 9th Floor Nariman Point, Mumbai, 40002l through Mr. Tej Paul Bhatia, who has signed the agreement with the Respondent.
12. Registry to issue notice to M/s Tata Consultancy Services on email at [email protected].
13. The Petitioner to take steps to serve them by all modes.
14. List on 13th February, 2024.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH, J.
JANUARY 22, 2024/mr/bh 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 25/01/2024 at 03:35:40