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1. The Applicant, who is Defendant No. 14 in the captioned Commercial IP Suit has filed the present Chamber Summons seeking (a) that the Plaint be rejected under the provisions of Order VII Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 ("CPC") qua the Applicant and alternatively (b) to strike off the name of the Applicant as a party to the Suit under the provisions of Order I Rule 10 of the CPC.

2. Mr. Kapadia, Learned Counsel for the Applicant at the outset, pointed out that the Plaintiff had filed the captioned Suit, inter alia, alleging (i) breach of confidentiality and (ii) infringement of copyright, arising from the alleged illegal and unauthorized access to, transfer or divulgence of, and theft of the Plaintiff's source codes and software. He submitted that the said source codes and software were created, developed, and owned by the Plaintiff Company and constituted the Plaintiff's confidential information and were works in which the Plaintiff held the copyright.

4. Mr. Kapadia then took me through the Plaint to demonstrate that it was the Plaintiff's own specific case that Defendant Nos. 1 to 3 had lured Defendant Nos. 6 to 8, namely the Plaintiff's former employees, into parting with the source codes and had thereby wrongfully procured the same. He submitted that the entire Plaint proceeds on the premise that it was Defendant Nos. 1 to 3, acting in collusion with Defendant Nos. 6 to 8, who had unlawfully obtained, accessed, and divulged the Plaintiff's software and source codes, and not the Applicant. Mr. Kapadia thus submitted that a meaningful reading of the Plaint made it clear that the allegations of breach of confidentiality and infringement of copyright were directed against Defendant Nos. 6, 7 and 8, and not the Applicant. Mr. Kapadia thus submitted that since the entire thrust of breach of confidentiality and infringement of copyright was against Defendant Nos. 1 to 3 and 6 to 8, the Suit against the Applicant was wholly vexatious and Areeb 4/7 CHS-246-2019.DOC did not disclose any clear right of the Plaintiff to join the Applicant as a Defendant to the Suit, and thus, the Chamber Summons be allowed.