Delhi High Court
Dabur India Limited vs Ashok Kumar And Ors on 26 May, 2023
Author: Prathiba M. Singh
Bench: Prathiba M. Singh
2023:DHC:3798
$~30(OS), 1(OS) to 29(OS)
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of Decision: 26th May, 2023
+ CS (COMM) 135/2022 & I.As. 3423/2022, 9363/2022, 12156/2022,
16505/2022, 1221/2023, 1222/2023
DABUR INDIA LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Anirudh Bakhru, and Mr. Kripa
Pandi, Advocates. (M:9810013453)
versus
ASHOK KUMAR AND ORS ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Yashvardhan Singh, Advocate for
D-1. (M:9667056770)
Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar,
CGSC with Mr. Srish Kumar Mishra,
Mr. Sagar Mehlawat Alexander Mathai
Paikaday, Advocates (M: 9810788606).
Ms. Kruttika Vijay, Ms. Geetanjali
Viswanathan, & Ms. Aishwarya Kane,
Advs. for D-5 (M-9910083144)
Mr. Dayan Krishnan Senior Advocate
with Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Mr. Parva
Khare, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal
Advocates for D-4. (M: 9987115749)
Mr. K.G. Gopalakrishnan and Ms.
Nisha Mohandas, Advocates for D-7.
(M:8800556341)
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with Ms. Swati Agarwal, Ms. Binsy
Susan, Mr. Shashank Mishra, Ms.
Akshi Rastogi, Ms. Vaani Kaushik &
Mr. Vaarish Sawlani, Advs
Mr. Apoorv Kurup & Ms. Kirti
Dadheech , Advocates for R-3. (M:
8929015368)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 1 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
ACP Raman Lamba with Insp. Suneel
Siddhu, IFSO, Special Cell.
(1) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 20/2019 & I.As.561/2019, 20157/2022
TATA SKY LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Tanmaya Mehta, Advocate. (M:
9999255931)
versus
S G ENTERPREISES - TATA SKY SALES AND SERVICES AND
ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Moazzam Khan, Ms. Shweta Sahu,
Mr. Alipak Banerjee and Ms. Parva
Khare, Advs. for D-5. (M:9987115749)
Ms. Akshita Jain, Advocate for D-8.
(M:9990526912)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates.
(2) WITH
+ CS(COMM) 193/2019 & I.As. 5399/2019, 11497/2019, 18216/2019,
15451/2021, 6069/2022
COLGATE PALMOLIVE COMPANY & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan &
Mr. Rohil Bansal, Advs.(M-
9079965359)
versus
NIXI & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Akshita Jain, Advocate for D-1
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 2 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
(M-9990526912).
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with Ms. Swati Agarwal, Ms. Binsy
Susan, Mr. Shashank Mishra, Ms.
Akshi Rastogi, Ms. Vaani Kaushik &
Mr. Vaarish Sawlani, Advs for D-3-4.
Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC with Mr.
Danish Faraz Khan, Mr. Abhigyan
Siddhant and Mr. Rahul Sharma,
Advocates for UOI (M-9999999045)
with Mr. Tanmay Nirmal, Manager
legal.
Mr. Tentu Satyanarayan, Director
(Legal), UIDAI & Mr. Tanmaya
Nirmal, Deputy Manager (Legal &
Policy), UIDAI (M-9899113033).
Mr. Kushagra Goel & Mr. Abhimanyu
Yadav, Advocates for D-7 (M-
9711443294).
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
SI Prince Kumar, PS Hauz Khas.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum, Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(3) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 297/2019
MOTHER DAIRY FRUIT & VEGETABLE PVT. LTD...... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr.
Shobhit Agarwal and Mr. Deepank,
Advocates.
versus
KUMAR PRAHLAD & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Yash Vardhan Singh, Advocate for
D-1.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 3 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(4) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 298/2019 & I.As.8189/2019, 13215/2019, 13631/2019,
15695-96/2019, 14210/2021, 16707/2021
ULTRATECH CEMENT LIMITED & ANR. ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr Kushal Gupta, Advocate.
versus
WWW.ULTRATECHCEMENTS.COM & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with Ms. Binsy Susan & Ms. Swati
Agarwal, Advocates for GoDaddy.
(M:9650001297)
Mr. Ananta Prasad Mishra & Mr.
Gagan Gupta, Advocates for D-9.
(M:9990937838)
Mr. Manish Mohan, CGSC for UOI.
(M-999910115)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum, Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(5) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 317/2019 & I.As. 8404-05/2019, 3270/2020
DHARAMPAL SATYAPAL LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Rajesh Yadav, Sr. Advocate with
Ms. Ruchira V. Arora and Mr.
Dhananjay Mehlawat, Advocates.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 4 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
(M:9911006159)
versus
RAJNIGANDHA DISTRIBUTORS PRIVATE LIMITED
& ORS ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Mahesh, Mr. Gulshan Kumar, Ms.
Shubhangi Sood & Ms. Aashi,
Advocates for D-2,3.
Mr V. P Singh & Mr. Vansh Malhotra,
Advocates for D-10.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Siddharth Sangal & Ms. Nilanjani
Tandon, Advocates for D-11/SBI.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
Mr. Santosh Kumar Tripathi, Standing
Counsel with Mr. Arun Panwar, Mr.
Tapesh Raghav, Mr. Prudyumn Rao
and Mr. Mahak Rankawat, Advcoates.
(6) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 732/2019 & I.As. 3865/2020, 9234/2020, 4171/2021,
4172/2021
MONTBLANC SIMPLO GMBH ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand & Mr. Devesh
Ratan, Advs. (M:9810333571)
versus
MONTBLANCINDIA.COM & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Yajur Bhalla, Mr. Deepak Samota
and Mr. Sumer Ahuja, Advocates for
D-1, 2, 4 to 10 & 20. (M:9711009378)
Ms. Asiya Khan, Advocate for D-25
(M: 9971644936).
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 5 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Mr. Alipak Banjerjee, Ms. Pava Khare
& Ms. Shweta Sahu Advs for D-18.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(7) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 82/2020 & I.A. 2402/2020
JOCKEY INTERNATIONAL INC. ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr.
Shobhit Agarwal and Mr. Deepank,
Advs. (M:8800520258)
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
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(8) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 251/2020 & I.As. 5544/2020, 7655/2022
MICROSOFT CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr.
Shantanu Sahay, Ms. Imon Roy and
Mr. Apoorv Bansal, Advocates.
versus
MS CZONE SOLUTIONS & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Sumit Nagpal, Ms. Nancy, Ms.
Dolly Luthra and Ms. Aastha Sood,
Advs for D-1 & 2. (M:9911995000)
Mr. Tushar Sahu, Advocate for D-3.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 6 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(9) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 255/2020 & I.As. 5590-91/2020, 11099/2020, 6402/2022
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. Uday Singh
Chopra, Mr. Saransh Saini and Mr.
Ujjawal Bhargava for D-2. (M:
9399304251).
Mr. Rishi Kapoor & Ms. Yashika
Kapoor, Advocates for D-3. (M:
7011263450))
Ms. Meenakshi Dutta, Mr. Anupam
Kumar Mishra & Mr. Gautam
Harshwal, Advocates for D-4 & 7. (M:
9521151974)
Mr Ankit Rastogi and Mr Saransh
Saini, Advocates.
Mr. Saransh, Advocate for Ms. Nandita
Rao, ASC (Crml.),GNCTD. (M:
9717417996)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 7 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(10) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 324/2020 & I.As. 6950/2020, 12588/2020, 12611/2020,
11510/2021
MCDONALDS CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Ms. Priya Adlakha, Mrs. Bindra Rana,
Ms. Tanvi Bhatnagar, Ms. Rima
Majumdar and Ms. Shilpi Sinha,
Advocates. (M:9818202368)
versus
NATIONAL INTERNET EXCHANGE OF INDIA
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Shubhendu Anand, Advocate for
D-1.
Mr. Vivek Jain & Mr. Aastha Tiwari,
Advocates for D-18 & 28
(M9811426480).
Mr. Alipak K. Banerjee and Ms.
Shweta Sahu, Advocates for D-5, 2, 6
7, & 8 (M: 9987115749).
Mr. Ravi Prakash, CGSC with Mr.
Sahonwlah Farmani Ali, Advocate for
D-35&36 (M-9469448888)
Mr. Santosh Kumar Rout, Mr. Pawan
Kumar & Mr. Abhishek Chakraborty,
Advocates for D-13 to 17, 22, 26, 27,
31)
Mr Rajiv Kapur & Mr Akshit Kapur,
Mr Tushar Bagga, Advocates.
Mr Yashu Rustagi, Advocate for
BOB.
Mr. Moazzam Khan Advocate, Mr.
Alipak Banerjee Advocate Ms. Shweta
Sahu Advocate , Mr. Parva Khare
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 8 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Advocate, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal
Advocate.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Tushar Singh & Ms. Trisha
Patnaik, Advocates for D-25.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum, Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(11) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 373/2020 & I.A. 7995-96/2020, 7999/2020, 9171/2020,
84/2021, 430/2021 & 1371/2021
ITC LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Ms. Vaishali, Mr.
Shivang Sharma & Mr. Siddhant
Chamola, Advocates
versus
ASHOK KUMAR & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Ritu Mishra, Advocate for D-6.
Mr. Hrithik Goyal and Ms. Lovleen
Goyal, Advocates for D-12.
(M:8826767020)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Deepika Kathuria, Adv. for D-14.
Ms. Asmita Kumar, Advocate for D-31.
(M:9899967516)
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(12) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 424/2020 & I.A. 20246-47/2022
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 9 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
SHOPPERS STOP LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Sagar Chandra, Ms. Shubhie Wahi,
Ms. Ankita Seth and Ms. Sanya
Kapoor, Advocates.
(M:9810907412)
versus
M/S SHOPPERSTOP & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. P.S. Sudheer and Ms. Anne
Mathew, Advs. for D-5.
(M:9891760039)
Mr. Moazzam Khan Advocate, Mr.
Alipak Banerjee Advocate Ms. Shweta
Sahu Advocate , Mr. Parva Khare
Advocate, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal
Advocate.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(13) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 498/2020 & I.A. 10520-21/2020, 2506/2021, 2530/2021
MICROSOFT CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr.
Shantanu Sahay, Ms. Imon Roy and
Mr. Apoorv Bansal, Advocates.
versus
PCPATCHERS TECHNOLOGY PRIVATE LIMITED
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Sumit Nagpal, Ms. Nancy and Ms.
Aashta Sood, Advocates for D-1, 2 & 3.
(M:9911995000)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 10 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(14) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 95/2021 & I.A. 4800/2021, I.A. 21025/2022, 6516/2023
THE HIMALAYA DRUG COMPANY & ORS. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Ms. Prachi Agarwal and Ms. Ms.
Ridhie Bajaj, Advocates.
(M:8800972785)
versus
ASHOK KUMAR & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Alipak Banderjee, Ms. Shweta
Sahu, Mr. Parva Khare and Mr. Brijesh
Ujjaniwal, Advocates for Go Daddy
(M: 9987115749).
Mr. Moazzam Khan Advocate, Mr.
Alipak Banerjee Advocate Ms. Shweta
Sahu Advocate , Mr. Parva Khare
Advocate, Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal
Advocate.
Mr. Tushar Singh & Ms. Trisha
Patnaik, Advocates for D-25.
Mr. Surinder Singh, Advocate for D-29
(M-9311325398)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(15) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 154/2021 & I.A. 4692/2021, 10905/2022
GODREJ PROPERTIES LTD ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Vibhav Mithal
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 11 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
and Mr. Achyut Tiwari, Advocates.
(M:8447458389)
versus
ASHOK KUMAR & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with, Mr. Alipak Banerjee, & Ms.
Shweta Sahu, Advocates for D-2.
(M:9987115749)
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(16) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 176/2021 & I.As. 14924/2022, 14925/2022
SNAPDEAL PRIVATE LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Ms. Tanya Varma & Ms. Devyani
Nath, Advocates. (M:7042547106)
versus
GODADDYCOM LLC AND ORS ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar,
CGSC with Mr. Srish Kumar Mishra,
Mr. Sagar Mehlawat Alexander Mathai
Paikaday, Advocates (M: 9810788606).
Ms. Shweta Sahu and Mr. Alipak
Banerjee, Mr. Parava Khare and Mr.
Brijesh Ujjainwal, Advs, for D-
2,3,4,23,26,31. (M:9987115749)
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with Mr. Moazzam Khan, Mr. Alipak
Banerjee and Ms. Shweta Sahu,
Advocates for D-1 & 10.
Ms. Kruttika Vijay and Ms. Aishwarya
Kane, Advocates for D-9.
(M:9910083144)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 12 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Mr. Praveen Kumar Jain & Ms. Shalini
Jha, for D-34. (M:9871278525)
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum, Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(17) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 276/2021 & I.A. 7329/2021
MICROSOFT CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr.
Shantanu Sahay, Ms. Imon Roy and
Mr. Apoorv Bansal, Advocates.
versus
TECH HERACLES OPC PRIVATE LIMITED
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
Mr Rajiv Kumar Malik , Mrs. Megha,
Mr Deepanshu Nainwal, Advocates for
D-1 to 3.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC with Mr.
Danish Faraz Khan, Mr. Abhigyan
Siddhant and Mr. Rahul Sharma,
Advocates for UOI
(18) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 293/2021 & I.As.7543-44/2021, 10308/2021,
15052/2021
TATA SONS PRIVATE LIMITED & ANR. ..... Plaintiffs
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan Mr.
Achuthan Sreekumar & Mr. Rohil
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 13 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Bansal Advocates. (M:9079965359)
versus
M/S ELECTRO INTERNATIONAL & ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advocates for Airtel (M-
9810455716)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Deepika Kathuria, Adv. for D-8.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(19) 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 and 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, Advocate 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. Kamaldeep, Advocate for
UOI/D-18 & 19.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 14 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Mr. K.K. Singh, Advocate for D-27.
Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu and Mr. Tushar
Bhardwaj, Advs for Reliance Jio.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(20) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 524/2021 & I.A. 13715/2021, 4506/2022
KAMDHENU LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Nikhil Sonker, Advocate.
(M:7726021194)
versus
RAGHUNATH VIRDHARAM BISHNOI AND ORS. .... Defendants
Through: Mr. Rishabh Gupta and Mr. Abhishek
Kumar Singh, Advocates.
Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar,
CGSC with Mr. Srish Kumar Mishra,
Mr. Sagar Mehlawat Alexander Mathai
Paikaday, Advocates (M: 9810788606).
Mr. Lakshy Aggarwal, Advocate 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)
Ms. Shweta Sahu, Mr. Alipak
Banjerjee, Mr. Parva Khare and Mr.
Brijesh Ujjainwal, Advocates for D-8.
(M:9987115749)
Mr. K.G. Gopalakrishnan and Ms.
Nisha Mohandas, Advocates for D-9.
(M:8800556341)
Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advocates for D-
10 (M-99101983636)
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 15 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Mr. Alipak Banjerjee, Ms. Pava Khare
& Ms. Shweta Sahu Advs for D-8.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu and Mr. Tushar
Bhardwaj, Advs. for Reliance Jio.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(21) 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. Suaib Ahmed khan, Advocate for
D-4.
Ms. Deepika Kathuria, Adv. for D-10.
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Ms. Shweta Sahu,
Mr. Brijesh Ujjainwal, and Advs. for
D-19. (M:9987115749)
Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advocates for D-
20. (M:9911983636).
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.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 16 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(22) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 35/2022 & I.As. 819/2022, 3168/2022, 4738/2022,
8767/2022
KAJARIA CERAMICS LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. J. Sai Deepak, Ms. Priya Adlakha,
Mrs. Bindra Rana, Ms. Tanvi
Bhatnagar, Ms. Rima Majumdar and
Ms. Shilpi Sinha, Advocates.
(M:9818202368)
versus
GODADDY.COM LLC & ORS. ..... Defendant
Through: Mr. Moazzam Khan, Ms. Shweta Sahu,
Mr. Alipak Banerjee and Ms. Parva
Khare, Advs. for D-1. (M:9987115749)
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
Mr. Ashwani Kumar, Adv. for D-2.
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 Kr. Rout, Mr. Pawan
Kumar & Mr. Abhishek Chakraborty,
Advocates for D-6.
(23) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 158/2022 & I.As. 3996-97/2022, 3096/2023
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 17 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
MICROSOFT CORPORATION & ANR. ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Pravin Anand, Mr. Saif Khan, Mr.
Shantanu Sahay, Ms. Imon Roy and
Mr. Apoorv Bansal, Advocates.
versus
VACATION RENTAL SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Mayank Mehandra, Mr. Charu
Tandon & Mr. Sarthak Kapoor & Mr.
Raghav Tandon, Advocate for D-1 & 2.
Mr. Ramnish Khanna, Adv. for D-7.
SI Manzoor Alam, Cyber Police
Station, South-East.
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum, Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(24) 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.
versus
NIKO DAS & ANR. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advocates for D-
3.
Mr. Lakshy Aggarwal, Advocate for D-
7.
Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. V. Dang & Ms.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 18 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Aditi, Advocates 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. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(25) 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: Ms. Deepika Kathuria, Adv. for D-9.
Mr. S. Surender, Advocate for D-21.
Ms. Asiya Khan, Advocate for D-25
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. M.K. Singh, Advocate for Mr.
Samir Chugh, Advocate for Airtel.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(26) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 364/2022 & I.As. 8518-20/2022, 12855/2022
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 19 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
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. G. Mirza, Mr. Vishesh Sharma,
Advocates for D-4. (M:7434045442)
Mr. Sohit Choudhary, Advocate for D-
5.
Ms Yukti Gupta, Advocate for HDFC
Bank
Ms. Mrinal Ojha, Mr. Debarshi Dutta &
Mr. Aayush Kevlani, Advocates for D-
8 (M-9167094381)
Ms. Deepika Kathuria, Adv. for D-10.
Mr. Vineet Dhanda, CGSC with Mr.
Abhishek Singh, Advocate for UOI/D-
18 & 19.
Mr. Harshal Arora, Advocate for D-5.
(M: 9711986759)
Mr. Varun Pathak, Ms. Amee Rana,
and Mr. Vishesh Sharma, Advocates
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.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 20 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
(27) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 475/2022 & I.As. 10851-52/2022, 12173-74/2022
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, Advocate for D-6.
Mr. Vihan Dang, Ms. Aditi Umapathy
and Mr. Parva Khare, Advs. for D-10.
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Mr. Brijesh
Ujjainwal & Ms. Shweta Sahu,
Advocate for D-7.
Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia, CGSC with Mr.
Abhigyan Siddhant and Mr. Danish
Faraz Khan, Advocates 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.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
(28) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 350/2020 & I.A. 7456/2020, 9624/2020, 9629/2020,
996/2021, 9204/2022, 16148/2022
GUJARAT COOPERATIVE MILK MARKETING FEDERATION
LTD & ANR. ..... Plaintiff
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 21 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Through: Mr. Abhishek Singh and Mr. J. Amal
Anand, Mr. Elvin Joshy, Ms. Alisha
Sharma & Ms. Insha Mushtaq,
Advocates. (M:9910291290)
versus
AMUL-FRANCHISE.IN & ORS. ..... Defendant
Through: Mr. Anil Soni, CGSC with Mr. Rahul
Mourya, Adv. for UOI.
(M:9560238258)
Mr. Anurag Ahluwalia,, CGSC with
Mr. Abhigyan Siddhant, G.P. and Mr.
Danish Faraz Khan, Advocate for UOI.
(M:9811418995)
Mr. Neel Mason, Mr. Vihan Dang, and
Ms. Aditi Umapathy, Advocate
Mr. Alipak Banerjee & Ms. Shweta
Sahu and Advocates for D-26.
(M:9987115749)
Mr. Alipak Banerjee, Mr. Brijesh and
Ms. Shweta Shahu, Advocates for D-
27, 28 & 30.
Mr. Praveen Kumar Jain, and Ms.
Shalini Jha, Advocates for D-37.
(M:9871278525)
Mr. Ramesh Babu, Ms. Manisha Singh,
Ms. Jagriti Bharti, and Ms. Tanya
Chowdhary, Advocate for D-38 (M:
9971671294).
Ms. Ekta Choudhary, Ms. Anisha, Mr.
Divyank Dutt Dwivedi, Advocates.
Mr. Vihan Dang and Mr. Parva Khare
& Ms. Aditi Umapathy, Advs for D-52.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 22 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
(29) WITH
+ CS (COMM) 228/2021 & I.As. 6441/2021, 11684/2021, 1412-
13/2022, 12160/2022, 12171/2022, 13443/2022, 14920/2022,
14923/2022, 17716-17/2022, 3237/2023
BAJAJ FINANCE LIMITED ..... Plaintiff
Through: Mr. Abhishek Singh, Mr. Jamal Anand,
Mr. Elvin Joshy, Ms. Insha Mushtaq
Ms. Alisha Sharma & Mr. Ujjwal.
versus
REGISTRANT OF WWW.BAJAJ-FINSERVE.ORG
& ORS. ..... Defendants
Through: Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar,
CGSC with Mr. Srish Kumar Mishra,
Mr. Sagar Mehlawat Alexander Mathai
Paikaday, Advocates (M: 9810788606).
Mr. Darpan Wadhwa, Sr. Advocate
with Mr. Alipak Banerjee & Ms.
Shweta Sahu and Advocates for D-
6,7,11,12,14,17 and 22.
Mr. Manish Paliwal, and Ms. Himanshi
Kaushik, Advocates for D-18.
(M:8448257585)
Mr. Akhil Sibal, Sr. Advocate with Mr.
Aditya Gupta, Ms. Aishwarya, Mr.
Sauhard Alung and Ms. Asvari Jain,
Advocates for D-19. (M:9910083144)
Mr. Rajshekhar Rao, Sr. Advocate with
Mr. Tine Abraham, Mr. Manasa
Sundaraman C., Ms. Kshipra Pyare and
Ms. Mansi Sood Trileyal, Advocates
for D-28. (M:9324328752)
Mr. Akshay Goel, Mr. Shivam Narang
& Mr. Lalit Kashyap, Advocates
Mr. Ashok Kumar, Advocate for D-31.
(M:9810011826).
Ms. Swati Aggarwal, Ms. Binsy Susan,
Mr. Aasish Samasi and Mr. Mohit
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 23 of 29
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:RAHUL
Signing Date:29.05.2023
19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
Singh, Advs. for GoDaddy.
Ms. Hetu Arora Sethi, ASC, GNCTD
with Mr. Arjun Basra, Advocate Jai
Prakash, ACP, IFSO Cyber Cell along
with Inspector Sanjeev Solanki,
Inspector Kusum , Inspector Suneel
Siddhu and SI Manzoor Alam.
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
Prathiba M. Singh (Oral)
1.This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
2. These matters relate to domain names being registered by unknown third parties infringing trademark right of various brand owners and implementation of court orders by the Domain Name Registrars ('DNR'). From time to time, various directions have been passed by this Court in respect of blocking and locking of the infringing domain names, and implementation of court orders by various DNRs which may or may not be located in India.
3. During the hearing in the present batch of cases, it was brought to the attention of the Court that in various cases there was a mismatch between the name of the bank account holder and name given in the billing details. It was submitted before the Court that for validating a financial transaction, only the account number is matched and the name of the account holder and the prospective recipient are not matched. In view of this submission, the Court had impleaded Reserve Bank of India as Defendant No.38 in CS (COMM)- 350/2022 titled Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. v. Amul-Franchise.in.
4. RBI had vide affidavit dated 9th February, 2023 placed its stand on record to the following effect:
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 24 of 29 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAHUL Signing Date:29.05.2023 19:06:222023:DHC:3798 "10. It is submitted that Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), one of the modes of electronic fund transfer is operated by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). NPCI has enabled the banks to offer beneficiary account validation functionality to confirm the beneficiary account name (as per bank CBS) and account status before making the transaction. Banks need to ensure that they are equipped for providing this functionality and also necessary changes in their Bank application (net banking/mobile banking) User Interface (UI)/User Experience (UX) to enable this functionality to their customers in the transaction process flow. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) which is also operated by NPCI offers the functionality wherein the customer can verify the beneficiary UPI ID/Virtual Payment Address (VPA) from the app thus providing a layer of protection to the remitter.
5. In view of the above stand of the RBI, the Court on 10th February, 2023 directed the RBI to seek instructions on whether RBI can issue guidelines to make it mandatory for banks to match the beneficiary's name in the billing details with the details of the account holder's name.
6. The stand of RBI was placed before the Court vide affidavit 27th March, 2023 which was captured in order dated 27th March, 2023. The same reads as under:
"6. The RBI's affidavit which is sworn by Mr. Ajay Abrol, Assistant General Manager, Department of Supervision (Banking), RBI states that in view of the manner in which names of account holders can be spelt, there can be mismatch of spellings in the names and, as a result a large number of transactions could get rejected, if the matching of beneficiary name with CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 25 of 29 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAHUL Signing Date:29.05.2023 19:06:22 2023:DHC:3798 the account number is mandated. However, the affidavit adds as under:
"6. It is further submitted that Digital Payment products provides beneficiary name verification services which the originator can use to verify the name of the account to which funds are being transferred prior to initiating transfer. At present, the facility of beneficiary name lookup at the time of origination of transaction is available for UPI. RBI is exploring the feasibility for introduction of the aforesaid facility in other payment products such as RTGS, NEFT, IMPS etc both in online and off-line i.e. at the bank branch modes, and steps would be taken by RBI after taking into account technology, data privacy and other related issues.
7. It is submitted that issuing guidelines making it mandatory for banks to match the beneficiary's name in the billing details with the account holder's name before passing on credit will make digital payments inefficient and result in a large number of returns. In view of the submissions made herein above, RBI is not in favour of issuing any guidelines making it mandatory for banks to match name before passing on credit."
7. In terms of the affidavit which was filed by the RBI, the Court then directed the RBI to state as to whether there are any timelines for introduction of beneficiary's name look up facility in respect of non-digital payments such as RTGS, IMPS, NEFT as well. The said direction reads as under:
"7. Insofar as the RBI is concerned, ld. Counsel CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 26 of 29 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAHUL Signing Date:29.05.2023 19:06:22 2023:DHC:3798 Mr. Ramesh Babu shall obtain instructions as to whether there are any timelines in respect of feasibility of introduction of the facilities of beneficiary name lookup at the time of origination of transaction in case of RTGS, NEFT and IMPS, both in online and offline modes. Let an additional affidavit in respect of the said timelines be placed on record, if any."
8. Today, an affidavit dated 24th May, 2023 has been placed on record which has been signed by Mr. Manish Manhar, Assistant General Manager, Department of Supervision, RBI, New Delhi to the following effect:
"3. That before proceeding further, it will be relevant to briefly state the backdrop under which the above reproduced directions came to be passed by this Hon'ble Court. In this regard, it is submitted that in compliance with the Order dated 10.02.2023 passed in the present suit, the answering Defendant filed one Affidavit dated 27.03.2023 wherein vide Para No. 6, it has been brought to the kind attention of this Hon'ble Court : - that the originators of the transactions under the UPI ecosystem can verify the name of the account to which funds are being transferred prior to initiating and confirming such transfers. However, the said facility at present is restricted to the Digital Payment products only and the answering Defendant is exploring the feasibility for introducing the said facility in other payment products as well such as RTGS, NEFT, IMPS etc in both online and off-line modes. In view of the same, this Hon'ble Court was pleased to direct the answering Defendant to provide a timeline to introduce such facility.
4. It is submitted that the Application Programming Interface service for beneficiary name lookup will be made available to the banks participating in IMPS, NEFT and RTGS payment systems by June 2024. Thereafter, the banks can offer this service to their customers."CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 27 of 29 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAHUL Signing Date:29.05.2023 19:06:22
2023:DHC:3798
9. From the above affidavit, it is clear that the stand of the RBI is that beneficiary name lookup facility would be made available even in respect of IMPS, NEFT and RTGS payments by June, 2024. Considering this stand, it is clear that once the said facility is made operational, whenever remittances are made even through IMPS, NEFT and RTGS mode, to accounts which are opened by registrants of infringing domain names, the name of the beneficiary would become evident to the person making the remittance. At that stage, if the name of the account holder does not match with the name of the entity to whom the payment is to be made, the payment could be stopped immediately.
10. The banks shall, accordingly, implement this facility immediately upon the same being made operational by the RBI by June, 2024.
11. In view of the affidavit which has been filed, the presence of RBI would no longer be required. Accordingly, RBI is deleted as a Defendant.
12. Today, the Court is informed that insofar as Namecheap Inc., Dynadot, and Tucows are concerned they have moved applications before the IP Division in different suits that they are willing to comply with and give effect to orders passed in India as also appoint Nodal Officers. It is also submitted by ld. Counsel for the parties that insofar as the Gransy S.R.O. and Sarek OY are concerned, there has been no response.
13. Ms. Adlakha, ld. Counsel submits that Godaddy is not complying with the injunction orders relating to two domain names on the ground that there are no operational websites on the said domain names. Mr. Khan, ld. counsel for GoDaddy submits that in the injunction order passed in the said suit, i.e., CS(COMM) 324/2020, the generic term 'mirror website' has been used and there is no specific domain name which has been mentioned in the order.
14. This issue shall be considered by the Court on the next date of hearing.
CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 28 of 29 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAHUL Signing Date:29.05.2023 19:06:222023:DHC:3798
15. Insofar as Namecheap Inc. and Dynadot are concerned, Mr. Akshay Goel, ld. Counsel submits that the service of the suit papers, other documents and notices, etc., may be made to the Grievance Officer at the following email address:
Dynadot: [email protected] Namecheap:[email protected]
16. Accordingly, the Registry shall notify all Plaintiffs who may be filing the suits and all the Plaintiffs in the present suits to serve fresh applications and suit papers in respect of these DNRs upon the Grievance Officer at the email address.
17. The Court would consider all the issues raised on behalf of the parties on the next date of hearing.
18. List CS(COMM) 317/2019, CS(COMM) 255/2020, CS(COMM) 324/2020, CS(COMM) 373/2020, CS(COMM) 95/2021 and CS(COMM) 158/2022 before Registrar on 5th July, 2023.
19. List before Court on 16th August, 2023 at 2:30 p.m.
20. These are part heard matters.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGE MAY 26, 2023 dj/sk CS (COMM) 135/2022 & connected matters Page 29 of 29 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:RAHUL Signing Date:29.05.2023 19:06:22