Bombay High Court
Xxxxxxxxxx vs Xxxxxxxxxx on 31 March, 2023
Author: R.I. Chagla
Bench: R.I. Chagla
4-IAL-8951-23.doc
Sharayu Khot.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
ORDINARY ORIGINAL CIVIL JURISDICTION
INTERIM APPLICATION (L) NO. 8951 OF 2023
IN
SUIT (L) NO. 8947 OF 2023
Pioneer Insurance & Reinsurance Brokers ...Applicant/
Private Limited Plaintiff
Versus
Satish Gopalakrishnan Mathur ...Defendant
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Mr. Janak Dwarkadas, Senior Counsel a/w. Ms. Rishika Harish, Mr.
Aditya Mehta, Mr. Pritvish Shetty, Ms. Saloni Shah i/b. Cyril
Amarchand Mangaldas for the Plaintiff.
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CORAM : R.I. CHAGLA J
DATE : 31 March 2023
ORDER :
1. The Plaintiff (formerly known as Pioneer Insurance Services Private Limited) is a company incorporated under the provisions of the Companies Act, 1956. The Plaintiff is a part of the Pioneer group of companies, and is a leading composite insurance brokerage house, providing general and life insurance broking services to corporate and retail clients and reinsurance broking 1/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc services to insurance companies worldwide.
2. The Defendant is an adult, Indian inhabitant, and is a finance and insurance professional by vocation and a former employee of the Plaintiff, who had joined the services of the Plaintiff on 25th July 2006, as its CEO - Reinsurance. The Defendant was issued an appointment letter dated 19th May 2006 by the Plaintiff, confirming his employment with the Plaintiff. When the Defendant joined the services of the Plaintiff, the Plaintiff had assigned a laptop and a desktop computer to the Defendant and created an official company email ID ([email protected]) for the Defendant to carry out his day-to-day official work, for and on behalf of the Plaintiff.
3. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that the employees of the Plaintiff, including the Defendant, are strictly obligated to adhere to the employee handbook issued in the name of Pioneer Investcorp Limited, the flagship company of the Pioneer group, which applies to all employees of the Pioneer group, including that of the Plaintiff.
4. Pursuant to the resignation tendered by the Defendant, 2/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc the Defendant was relieved from his employment with the Plaintiff on 30th September 2022. The Defendant has since joined a competitor of the Plaintiff.
5. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that shortly after the Defendant left the services of the Plaintiff, certain employees of the Plaintiff who were reporting to the Defendant, also submitted their resignations on 10th October 2022. The Plaintiff has learnt that the said employees have also since joined the competitor of the Plaintiff, where the Defendant is presently employed.
6. It is the case of the Plaintiff that the Defendant and its said ex- employees were acting in concert and illegally attempting to solicit clients of the Plaintiff, details, information and data in relation to whom were made available to them under a contractual and legal obligation of confidence, during the term of and for the purpose of their employment with the Plaintiff.
7. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that the Defendant appears to have already approached certain clients of the Plaintiff, who have now refused to renew their insurance/re-insurance policies with the 3/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc Plaintiff. The Plaintiff has, through market sources, become aware that the said clients of the Plaintiff have shifted such policies to the competitor company where the Defendant is currently employed.
8. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that on suspicion of data theft by the Defendant, in and around December 2022, the Plaintiff approached M/s. Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu India LLP ("Deloitte"), to carry out a fact-finding (i) review of the official laptop that had been allotted to the Defendant by the Plaintiff and which was returned by the Defendant to the Plaintiff on his last date i.e., 30 th September 2022; and (ii) analysis of the data on the Defendant's official email ID used by him during his employment with the Plaintiff. After a detailed analysis, Deloitte issued their report dated 20 th March 2023 ("Deloitte Report") to the Plaintiff.
9. Mr. Dwarkadas states that the key observations of the aforesaid fact-finding review carried out by Deloitte, as highlighted in the Deloitte Report, are as under:
i. Events having event ID 1006 were created on the Defendant's laptop. Such events are created on windows 4/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc operating system usually when an external storage media is connected or disconnected from the computer. ii. The Defendant had connected USB storage devices 72 times on his laptop between the period 19 th February 2021 to 30th September 2022.
iii. Multiples files and folders on the USB external storage media of models of SlimBK and LGXE3 having volume serial number CCBB33A0 and A8DCC340 respectively were accessed by the Defendant. The said files and folders were transferred by the Defendant to the aforesaid USB external storage media and accessed by the Defendant between June 2022 and September 2022, which contained the following confidential information/ data of the Plaintiff:
Sr. Particulars and nature of data contained in Reference No. the files and folders accessed by the Defendant
1. Request for Quotation (RFQs) - A Sr. Nos. 5, 9, 61 of document prepared by the Plaintiff Table 3 @ pgs. 20-
containing privileged and confidential 22 of the Deloitte 5/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc information relating to the insured (client), Report [Exhibit F prepared for the purpose of suggesting @ pgs. 156, 158] insurance policy options to the insured. The Defendant has accessed the RFQs of various clients of the Plaintiff.
2. Contractors All Risk (CAR) policy - A Sr. No. 12 of Table document prepared by the Plaintiff 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of analysing the nature of the risk/ project, the Deloitte Report which is sought to be insured by its client. [Exhibit F @ pg.
156]
3. Recall Policy- Policy availed by a pharma Sr. Nos. 20- 21 of client of the Plaintiff for insuring inter alia, Table 3 @ pgs. 20- any accidental or unintentional 22 of the Deloitte contamination, impairment or mislabelling Report of insured product(s), which occurs during [Exhibit F @ pg.
or as a result of its production, 157] preparation, manufacture, packaging or distribution.
4. List of product details of Plaintiff's client, Sr. No. 3 of Table the quantity of products insured and 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of insurance value thereof. the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ 6/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc pg.156]
5. List of product details of the Plaintiff's Sr. No.8 of Table 3 clients across the world, quantity of such @ pgs. 20-22 of products insured, insurance value and sale the Deloitte Report value thereof. [Exhibit F @ pg.156]
6. Details of insurance policies availed by the Sr. No.7 of Table 3 Plaintiff's clients along with claims raised @ pgs. 20-22 of by such clients over the past several years, the Deloitte Report and the value at which such claims were [Exhibit F @ settled. pg.156]
7. Various power point presentations Sr. Nos. 18, 22, prepared by the Plaintiff relating to 23, 25 26, 39, 43, marketing and business pitches. 53, 66, 68 of Table 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
157, 158]
8. List containing details of the clients Sr. No. 14 of Table handled by the Head of Inward business of 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Plaintiff, names of re-insurance the Deloitte Report companies around the world, type of [Exhibit F @ 7/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc policies availed by clients and premium pg.156] details.
9. Business report containing details of Sr. No. 35 of Table complete business undertaken by the team 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of headed by the then Vice-president of the the Deloitte Report Plaintiff's reinsurance business. [Exhibit F @ pg.
157]
10. Details of business undertaken by Sr. Nos. 37 and 38 employees of the Plaintiff including details of Table 3 @ pgs. of the client, their policies, premium. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
157]
11. Presentation prepared by the Plaintiff Sr. No. 36 of Table setting out the structure/details of 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of incentives to be provided to its sales the Deloitte Report employees dealing with direct insurance. [Exhibit F @ pg.
157]
12. Details of salary of the employees of the Sr. No. 65 of Table Plaintiff, income generated by the 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of employees across branches. the Deloitte Report 8/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc [Exhibit F@ pg.
158]
13. Quote Slip - containing details of policies Sr. Nos. 50, 62, 66 suited to the requirements of clients of the of Table 3 @ pgs.
Plaintiff. 20-22 of the
Deloitte Report
[Exhibit F @ pg.
158]
14. Notes prepared by the Plaintiff for the Sr. No. 66 of Table benefit of its client suggesting changes to 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of existing policies, reason for increase in the Deloitte Report premium. [Exhibit F @ pg.
158]
15. Details of claim raised by a client of the Sr. No. 40 of Table Plaintiff and the settlement value thereof. 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
157]
16. Trade credit proposal form of the client of Sr. No. 48 of Table the Plaintiff. 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
9/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc 158]
17. Notes on strategies prepared by the Sr. No. 51 of Table Plaintiff for its client for insuring various 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of risks. the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.158]
18. Contact details of persons working in Sr. No. 41 of Table various departments of various insurance 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of companies. the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
157]
19. Details of business undertaken in Nepal by Sr. No. 45 of Table the Plaintiff. 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
158]
20. Details of policy options, premium quotes Sr. No. 44 of Table prepared by the Plaintiff for its client. 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
157]
21. Draft of the Non- Disclosure Agreement Sr. No. 58 of Table 10/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc between the Plaintiff and its client. 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.158]
22. Details relating to potential clients targeted Sr. No. 54 of Table by the Plaintiffs. 3 @ pgs. 20-22 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F@ pg.158] iv. File named 'backup HPlaptop.pst', created on 14th September 2022 was present on the USB external storage media of model SlimBK having volume serial number CCBB33A0, which appears to be an email backup of the Defendant's email data and the size of the file was around 797.14 MB. However, the said '.pst' (i.e. Personal Storage Table) file was not present on the Defendant's laptop and appears to have been deleted by the Defendant.
v. On 30th June 2022, the Defendant searched for the term 'how to export the PST drive from the laptop to the 11/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc external drive', and on 14th September 2022 the Defendant searched 'how to copy the outlook folder from the laptop to external hard drive.
vi. From the shell bag analysis (i.e., analysis of a set of registry keys which contain details about a user's viewed folder, such as its size, position, and icon), certain folders were accessed by the Defendant from an external hard drive mounted on the drive letter D. On further analysis, it was observed that most of the folders accessed were also present on the Defendant's laptop. The folders accessed by the Defendant contained the following information/data relating to various clients of the Plaintiff, being confidential in nature:
Sr. Nature of data/ files contained in the folder Reference No. accessed by the Defendant
1. Mandates executed by and between the Sr. No. 11 of Plaintiff and its client, confirming the Table 4 @ 23 of appointment of the Plaintiff as a broker of the Deloitte the client. Report [Exhibit F @ 12/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc pg.159]
2. Presentations prepared by the Plaintiff for its Sr. No. 2, 8, 10, clients, which contain details of the business 11, 15 of Table 4 of the Plaintiff's clients, policies best suited @ 23 of the to their business to insure their Deloitte Report products/risk, business pitches, marketing [Exhibit F @ material and information, etc. pg.159]
3. Policies availed by the Plaintiff's clients. Sr. No. 7, 11 of Table 4 @ 23 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
159]
4. Notes on policy like property, CAR, Recall Sr. No. 5 of etc., prepared by the Plaintiff for the benefit Table 4 @ 23 of of its clients. the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
159]
5. RFQs prepared by the Plaintiff for its clients. Sr. No. 11 of Table 4 @ 23 of the Deloitte 13/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
159]
6. List of product details of the Plaintiff's clients Sr. No. 11 of across the world, the quantity of those Table 4 @ 23 of products insured, insurance value thereof, the Deloitte sale value of those products. Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
159]
7. Quotations of premium along with details of Sr. No. 11 of sum insured, provided by an insurance Table 4 @ 23 of company for the Plaintiff's clients. the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.159]
8. Drafts of a Confidentiality and Non- Sr. Nos. 1 and Disclosure Agreement between the Plaintiff 12 of Table 4 @ and its client. 23 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.159]
9. Memorandum of Understanding executed by Sr. No. 10 of 14/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc the Plaintiff with a project development Table 4 @ 23 of company in Africa. the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.159]
10. Details of insurance policies availed by the Sr. No. 9 of Plaintiff's client along with claims raised by Table 4 @ 23 of such clients over the last several years, the the Deloitte value at which such claims were settled. Report [Exhibit F @ pg.159]
11. Draft response to be addressed by the Sr. Nos. 1 and Plaintiff to an insurance company on behalf 15 of Table 4 @ of its client, in relation to the claim lodged 23 of the by such client. Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.159]
12. Engagement letter executed by the Plaintiff's Sr. No. 4 of client with PricewaterhouseCoopers Services Table 4 @ 23 of LLP, to pursue a cyber incident response in the Deloitte relation to a ransomware incident. Report [Exhibit F @ 15/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc pg.159]
13. Word file of the Insurance Adequacy Sr. No. 15 of Certificate issued by the Plaintiff on behalf of Table 4 @ 23 of its client, providing observations on the the Deloitte policies availed by its client. Report [Exhibit F @ pg.
159]
14. Note prepared by the Plaintiff for building its Sr. No.3 of Table treaty insurance portfolio. 4 @ 23 of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.159] Mr. Dwarkadas submits that the aforesaid folders were also found to be present on the Defendant's laptop, most of which were accessed on his last day of employment with the Plaintiff i.e., on 30 th September 2022. The Defendant also accessed folders relating to clients which were not handled by him during the term of his employment with the Plaintiff.
vii. During the analysis of the most recently used/accessed 16/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc file and folder artefact, inter alia the following files were accessed from the external drive mounted on drive letter D, most of which were accessed between the period 27th September 2022 to 30th September 2022:
Sr. Nature of files accessed by the Defendant Reference No.
1. Details of country/market wise treaty Sr. No. 16 of insurance business handled by the Table 5 @ pg. 24 employees of the Plaintiff, along with the of the Deloitte names of companies providing re-insurance Report and the brokerage received by the Plaintiff [Exhibit F @ from such treaties. pg.160]
2. Business analytical reports of the Plaintiff Sr. No. 13 of inter alia containing the details of insurance Table 5 @ pg. 24 companies and re-insurance companies. of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.160]
3. List of product details of the Plaintiff's Sr. No. 7 of Table client, the quantity of those products 5 @ pg. 24 of the insured and insurance value thereof. Deloitte Report 17/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc [Exhibit F @ pg.160]
4. List containing details of the clients handled Sr. No. 20 of by an employee of the Plaintiff, names of re- Table 5 @ pg. 24 insurance companies around the world, of the Deloitte type of policy availed by the client and Report premium amount. [Exhibit F @ pg.
160]
5. Details of insurance policies availed by the Sr. No. 6 of Table client of the Plaintiff along with claims 5 @ pg. 24 of the raised by the client over the last several Deloitte Report years, the value at which such claims were [Exhibit F @ settled. pg.160]
6. Details of business done by the Plaintiff Sr. No. 19 of under the re-insurance head in the Financial Table 5 @ pg. 24 Year 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021- of the Deloitte 2022, which includes names of clients of the Report Plaintiff, the policy availed by the client, the [Exhibit F @ premium paid thereon and the brokerage pg.160] received by the Plaintiff.
7. Details of the assets of the client of the Sr. No. 13 of Plaintiff along with nature of the policy Table 5 @ pg. 24 18/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc insuring such assets and the sum insured. of the Deloitte Report [Exhibit F @ pg.160] Mr. Dwarkadas states that no external devices were assigned by the Plaintiff to the Defendant during the term of his employment with the Plaintiff. In fact, in and around 22nd June 2022, the Plaintiff implemented data leakage prevention solution on its employees' system restricting access to external USB. However, in view of the position held by the Defendant with the Plaintiff and the consequent trust reposed by the Plaintiff in the Defendant, the said solution was not installed on the Defendant's laptop.
viii. Multiple instances of accessing Defendant's personal email ids from his office laptop, which indicated the potential use of the Defendant's personal email account on the office laptop.
ix. 154 instances of the Defendant sharing emails from his official email ID to his personal email ID were observed. 19/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 :::
4-IAL-8951-23.doc Out of the said 154 instances, 56 emails contained attachments and data belonging to the Plaintiff. x. The Defendant accessed WhatsApp web multiple times on his office laptop from 7th May 2021 to 10th January 2022.
xi. The Defendant accessed Google drive on multiple occasions from his office laptop, indicating presence of multiple files on his Google drive account, which appears to be in relation to the Plaintiff and its clients. xii. From the browser history analysis, 75 instances of cloud storage service "box.com' being accessed were observed. 11 instances of accessing URL "upload.box.com3" were observed.
xiii. The Defendant had created an account on Dropbox cloud storage service using his official email id, which was accessed from his official laptop on multiple occasions.
xiv. The Defendant had accessed WeTransfer (being a file transfer service that allows one to share large files over the internet) on his official laptop, and on 2 occasions the Defendant downloaded files from WeTransfer to his 20/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc laptop.
xv. The Defendant had configured OneDrive on his official laptop and a total of 1623 files were present in the OneDrive folder, of which some files contained data belonging/ relating to the Plaintiff. Mr. Dwarkadas states that the Plaintiff does not permit use of any third-party cloud storage services (like OneDrive, Dropbox, box.com and Google Drive) for official communication and data storage, in the absence of special permission. xvi. Deleted file analysis on the Defendant's laptop indicates that 1156 files were deleted between 1 st January 2021 to 30th September 2022, out of which 687 files were deleted in September 2022 alone.
xvii. Recycle bin analysis indicates that 918 files and folders were deleted between 19th February 2021 to 30th September 2022, out of which 908 files and folders were deleted in September 2022 alone.
10. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that the aforesaid information/ data is proprietary information that was prepared by the Plaintiff/its employees expending time and resources and after incurring significant cost and efforts, and is the result of years of hard 21/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc work, niche research and market/field experience built by the Plaintiff. The aforesaid information/ data, as also the information more particularly defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application, is the sensitive, proprietary and inherently confidential information/ data belonging to the Plaintiff and is not available in the public domain. The Defendant was given access to the confidential information only to perform his official duties and further the business of the Plaintiff, thereby casting an obligation of confidence on the Defendant, requiring him to maintain confidentiality of the confidential information and not to use the confidential information otherwise than under the authority of the Plaintiff.
11. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that given the designation of the Defendant, his position in the Plaintiff organisation, the nature of his duties and responsibilities, and the consequent trust reposed in him by the Plaintiff, the Defendant was entrusted with significant confidential information belonging to the Plaintiff. Access to confidential information was always and only given to the Defendant as a part of his employment under conditions of strict confidence and it was Defendant's contractual and fiduciary duty to protect and safeguard it. As the CEO of the Plaintiff, the Defendant was also 22/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc obliged that the confidential information of the Plaintiff was protected and not misused or stolen by any employee(s) or third party(ies). These obligation arise under contract, in equity and in law, inter alia, by virtue of the Defendant's employment with the Plaintiff. Mr. Dwarkadas also submits that the Defendant did not and does not have any right of ownership to the confidential information and further, the Defendant had no right to use, transfer, access, store and/or delete confidential information, after resigning.
12. Mr. Dwarkadas further submits that the above material is sufficient to show the surreptitious and illegal manner in which the Defendant has indulged in data theft of the Plaintiff's confidential information, which evidences the fact that the Defendant considered the same to be crucial or vital for the Defendant's career prospects. It is also submitted that the surreptitious manner in which the data was stolen also establishes that the Defendant himself did not regard the confidential information as part of the knowledge and experience gained by the Defendant during the course of his employment with the Plaintiff. Nor did the Defendant consider the confidential information to be so general as would be available in the public domain.
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13. Mr. Dwarkadas states that the Defendant's services were governed by the terms of the aforesaid appointment letter and the employee handbook, and the Defendant was bound by the terms thereof. Even otherwise, it was an implied condition of his employment that all material entrusted to the Defendant for or in the course of his work be treated as confidential and as proprietary information of the Plaintiff. The Defendant was not entitled or authorised to store, possess, use, or disclose the confidential information without the permission or licence, express or implied, of the Plaintiff. In fact, no such permission or license, whether express or implied, has been provided by the Plaintiff upon the Defendant leaving the employment of the Plaintiff.
14. It is the case of the Plaintiff that the Defendant could not have retained or used or continue to retain and/or use the confidential information, without any authorization, beyond the period of his employment, for any purpose whatsoever, much less as a springboard for activities detrimental to the Plaintiff, and to personally profit from the same.
15. Based on the above, Mr. Dwarkadas submits that 24/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc the Plaintiff is left with no option but to move this Court for grant of ex- parte ad interim relief in terms of prayer clauses (a) (ii), (iv), (v) and (vii) of the Interim Application. Mr. Dwarkadas submits that the Plaintiff verily believes that if the confidential information belonging to the Plaintiff continues to be in the possession of the Defendant, the Defendant will continue to misuse the same to the prejudice of the Plaintiff.
16. Mr. Dwarkadas further submits that as expressed by the Plaintiff in paragraph 20 of the Interim Application, should the Defendant be given notice of this Application; he would tamper with the evidence in order to avoid being held accountable for his actions, which are not only irresponsible, dishonest and selfish actions but also illegal as the same amount to breaches and violations in contract and law.
17. This Court has perused the material on record and considered the submissions made by Mr. Dwarkadas on behalf of the Plaintiff. Prima facie considering Deloitte Report, it is evident that the Defendant, a former employee of the Plaintiff, has retained, copied, misused, transferred and otherwise unauthorizedly used the 25/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc confidential information belonging to the Plaintiff, obtained by him in the course of or pursuant to his employment with the Plaintiff even after the termination of his employment with the Plaintiff.
18. I believe that the balance of convenience is in favour of the Plaintiff and a case for grant of ex-parte ad- interim reliefs i.e. (i) appointment of an Advocate Commissioner along with a technical expert to take a mirror copy of the entire electronic data stored on all electronic devices belonging to the Defendant, (ii) directing the Defendant to co-operate and provide full assistance to such Advocate Commissioner and technical/ forensic expert(s) so appointed, (iii) restraining the Defendant from inter alia using and/or copying and/or publishing the confidential information as defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application, and (iv) directing the Defendant to disclose particulars of the confidential information as defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application he retains with himself, as also the details of using, sharing or other dealings with such confidential information/ data and the names and contact details with whom he may have shared the same, has been made out. I also believe that if the aforesaid reliefs are not granted, irreparable injury, harm and prejudice will be caused to the Plaintiff. 26/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 :::
4-IAL-8951-23.doc The Plaintiff has stated in paragraph 20 of the Interim Application that if this Application is moved with notice to Defendant, he would tamper with the evidence. The apprehension is well founded.
19. Accordingly, the following ex-parte ad interim order is passed:
a. The Court Receiver, High Court Bombay is appointed to visit the residence or office or other premises of Defendant on 13th April 2023, without notice, to make an inventory and take a mirror copy of the entire electronic data of the Defendant stored on his data storage devices, hard disks, pen drives, servers, computer systems, tablets, memory cards, e-mail repositories including any cloud based servers belonging to the Defendant and return such storage devices, hard disks, pen drives, servers, computer systems, tablets, memory cards, e-mail repositories including any cloud based servers to the Defendant immediately on the same day or as soon as may be practical. The Court Receiver shall submit the electronic copy so obtained to this Court in a sealed envelope. The Court Receiver shall take the 27/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc assistance of the local police station, if required, in executing this order. The Senior Inspector of the concerned Police Station shall act on production of a duly authenticated copy of this order by the Court Receiver. A representative of the Advocate for the Plaintiff shall be permitted to accompany the Court Receiver to the Defendant's residence or office or other premises on 13th April, 2023.
b. The Court Receiver shall take the assistance of such technically empowered expert agency to assist him in this regard as is found necessary. The technically empowered expert agency is required to file a report of the contents of electronic data of the Defendant stored on the electronic devices belonging to the Defendant, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, computers retrieved as per this order and hand over the same to the Court Receiver in a sealed cover.
c. The costs, charges and expenses of the Court Receiver and such technical expert shall be borne by the Plaintiff. 28/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 :::
4-IAL-8951-23.doc d. The Court Receiver shall retain the electronic data retrieved as per this order in safe custody, until further orders from this Court.
e. The Court Receiver shall file/ submit a report of compliance with this order by 21st April 2023. f. The Defendant is restrained from in any manner, retaining and/or using and/or copying and/or publishing and/or disclosing to any person or persons the confidential information as defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application obtained by the Defendant in the course of or pursuant to his employment or association with the Plaintiff.
g. The Defendant is directed to cooperate and provide full assistance to the Court Receiver and technical expert hereby appointed, including providing to them all the login ids and passwords to access the aforesaid devices and/or confidential information as defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application.
h. The Defendant is directed to disclose on oath detailed 29/31 ::: Uploaded on - 11/05/2023 ::: Downloaded on - 13/06/2023 12:29:47 ::: 4-IAL-8951-23.doc particulars of (i) confidential information as defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application as also the printouts/ hard copies taken by him he retains with himself;
(ii) the use, sharing, disclosure or other dealings with confidential information as defined in paragraph 6 of the Interim Application, whether by himself or by/through any other person or persons (natural or legal); and (iii) the names and contact details of all persons (natural or legal) with whom he may have shared the same.
20. The Plaintiff shall comply with the requirement of Order XXXIX Rule 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 within 72 hours of the Court Receiver executing this commission.
21. The Interim Application shall be listed on 25th April, 2023 at 2:30 pm. On that day, the Court Receiver shall submit a report of compliance with this order.
22. The present order is passed without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both sides and all contentions of the parties are expressly kept open.
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23. A copy of this order shall not be uploaded on the website till 18th April 2023.
24. Liberty to apply.
25. This order will be digitally signed by the Private Secretary / Personal Assistant of this Court. All concerned will act on production of a digitally signed copy of this order.
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