Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing ... vs Harsh Saraf & Ors on 18 November, 2020

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Delhi High Court - Orders

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing ... vs Harsh Saraf & Ors on 18 November, 2020

Bench: Rajiv Shakdher

                          $~7
                          *      IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

                                 I.A.No.10668/2020 in
                          +      CS(COMM)No.478/2020

                                 GUJARAT COOPERATIVE MILK MARKETING FEDERATION
                                 LTD. & ANR.                                 .....Plaintiffs
                                             Through : Mr. Chetan Sharma, Sr. Adv. with
                                                       Mr. Abhishek Singh, Mr. J. Amal
                                                       Anand and Ms. Aayushi Mishra,
                                                       Advs.
                                             versus

                                 HARSH SARAF & ORS.                                       .....Defendants
                                              Through :            Ms. Aditi Rao and Mr. Aman Shukla,
                                                                   Advs. For D-1 to 3.
                                                                   Mr. Neel Manson, Ms. Ridhima
                                                                   Pabbi, Ms. Ekta Sharma and Ms.
                                                                   Aditi Umapathy, Advs. For D-4.
                                                                   Mr. Parag P. Tripathi, Sr. Adv. With
                                                                   Mr. Ajit Warrier, Mr. Gauhar Mirza
                                                                   and Ms. Malikah Mehra, Advs. For
                                                                   D-5/Facebook India Online Services
                                                                   Pvt. Ltd.
                                 CORAM:
                                 HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJIV SHAKDHER
                                         ORDER

% 18.11.2020 [Court hearing convened via video-conferencing on account of COVID-19] I.A. No. 10668/2020

1. Mr. Chetan Sharma, learned Additional Solicitor General (ASG), who appears on behalf of the plaintiffs/applicants, says that the defendants continue to disparage the plaintiffs‟ product.

CS(COMM)No.478/2020 page 1 of 3 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:19.11.2020 23:39:08 1.1 In this behalf, he has referred me to screenshots of the uploads which are set out in the application.

2. Ms. Aditi Rao, who appears on behalf of the contesting defendants i.e. defendant nos. 1 to 3, says that the said defendants have complied with the directions issued by this Court on 23.10.2020. 2.1 Ms. Rao contends that the defendant nos. 1 to 3 have removed, from their social media platforms and/or websites, both, direct and indirect reference to the plaintiffs‟ products.

2.2 According to Ms. Rao, defendant nos. 1 to 3 are propagating a different point of view which is that the people need to move away from the traditional milk obtained from cattle.

2.3 On being queried, Ms. Rao says that even though the screenshot which is set out on page 16 of the captioned application does not refer to the plaintiffs‟ product, to allay any apprehensions of the plaintiff, she would have that picture removed as well.

3. Having heard Mr. Sharma and Ms. Rao, in my view, this should suffice.

3.1 Defendant nos. 1 to 3 will remove the picture which is set out on page 16 of the application.

4. I may indicate that Mr. Sharma does emphasise the fact that since the plaintiffs control 80% of the traditional milk market, the view propagated by defendant nos. 1 to 3 is likely to hurt their business as the comments made in the uploads disparage the traditional milk.

CS(COMM)No.478/2020 page 2 of 3 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI Signing Date:19.11.2020 23:39:08

5. In my view, defendant nos. 1 to 3 are entitled, whether they are right or wrong, to propagate a different point of view [which, otherwise, is not harmful] as long as while propagating their point of view, they do not disparage the plaintiff‟s product.

6. Accordingly, the interim directions of the kind as sought by the plaintiffs cannot be granted save and except to the extent indicated in paragraph 3.1 above.

7. The captioned application is disposed of in the aforesaid terms.

CS(COMM)No.478/2020

8. Mr. Parag P. Tripathi, learned senior counsel, who appears on behalf of defendant no. 5, on instructions of Mr. Ajit Warrier, says that the description of defendant no. 5, as set forth, in the memo of parties is not accurate.

8.1 According to Mr. Tripathi, defendant no. 5 should have been described as Facebook Inc. 8.2 Mr. Sharma says that he has taken note of the submission made by Mr. Tripathi and, accordingly, steps in that behalf will be taken by filing an amended memo of parties within a period of one week from today. 8.3 The statement of Mr. Sharma is taken on record. 8.4 To facilitate this exercise, Mr. Warrier will provide the physical address of Facebook Inc to the counsel-on-record for the plaintiff.

9. List the matter on 29.01.2021.



                                                                               RAJIV SHAKDHER, J
                          NOVEMBER 18, 2020                Click here to check corrigendum, if any
                          CS(COMM)No.478/2020                                              page 3 of 3




Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
By:VIPIN KUMAR RAI
Signing Date:19.11.2020
23:39:08

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Delhi High Court - Orders