Costs Jurisprudence III: Interest Rates

Courts have authority to determine appropriate interest rate, considering totality of facts and circumstances in accordance with law. That apart, Courts have discretion to decide whether interest is payable from date of institution of suit, a period prior to that, or from date of decree, depending on specific facts of each case. Court must ensure, […]

The Plea of Limitation XIX: Delays of Adjacent Slums

A limitation provision in stamp law (to seek refund of stamp duty) should not be enforced so as to oust remedy when an applicant is otherwise not blameworthy [Bano Saiyed Parwaz v. Chief Controlling Revenue Authority & Inspector General of Registration & Controller of Stamps, 2024 SCC OnLine SC 979]. We find, Rs. 27,34,500/- had […]

R.P.G.

While RPG Industrial Products Pvt. Ltd. deals in polyester wool, RPG Enterprises Limited does cover clothing, footwear, and headgear too. Since ‘RPG‘ has already been declared as a well-known mark, it is entitled to protection not only against identical or similar goods, but also against dissimilar goods. Full Bench of Calcutta High Court in Sony […]

Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud’s Tenure

Hon’ble Justice J.B. Pardiwala described, ‘tenure’ is derived from Latin: ‘tenere’, which means ‘to hold’.”[1] In a ‘tenure’ what does one even ‘hold’ considering Hon’ble Justice Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud himself declares, “We may not be masters of our destiny. Nor can we control what life has in store. What we can determine is how we […]

Assessment of Statute

For over 50 yrs., High Court has been disposing of Writ Petitions raising claims or challenges to exercise of powers or dereliction of duties under The Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance and Redevelopment) Act, 1971. The propensity and proclivity of 1971 Act to generate litigation are worrisome. The exasperation of High Court is understandable. Court […]

Forfeiture of Right to File Written Statement

What cannot be done directly, cannot be done indirectly. It is apt to refer to a decision of a Division Bench of Karnataka High Court in Nalini Sunder v. GV Sunder, AIR 2003 Kar 86. It was held, a party could not make out a case on basis of evidence for which he/she has laid […]

Contracts of Insurance VIII

An insurance is a contract of indemnification, being a contract for a specific purpose [Oriental Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Sony Cheriyan, (1999) 6 SCC 451], which is to cover defined losses [United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Levis Strauss (India) (P) Ltd., (2022) 6 SCC 1]. Courts have to read an insurance contract strictly. Essentially, […]

Promotional Trailers

A ‘service’ involving ‘art’ necessarily involves ‘freedom and discretion in presentation’. Before release of ‘Fan‘ in 2016, Yash Raj Films Private Limited circulated a ‘promotional trailer’, both on television and online, which contained a song in form of a video. Afreen Fatima Zaidi states, ‘Fan‘ did not contain the song, even though the song was […]

Referred to Larger Bench XXVIII Answered: Chloro Controls

Vladimir Nabokov and T.S. Elliot eulogized Ulysses as a divine work of art. Virginia Woolf and Aldous Huxley criticized Ulysses for being technical and boring. It is celebrated by some, reviled by many others. Yet, its legacy continues. The Doctrine of Group of Companies. It provides, an Arbitration Agreement which is entered into by a Company within a Group […]

Contracts of Insurance VII

Notably, in earlier cases like Galada Power and Telecommunication Ltd. v. United India Insurance Co. Ltd., (2016) 14 SCC 161 and Saurashtra Chemicals Ltd. v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., (2019) 19 SCC 70 it was declared, new grounds for repudiation cannot be introduced during hearing if they were not included in repudiation letter. This legal […]

Stags and Whiskey

According to Defendants, in olden times, hunting was a favoured sport and when setting out to hunt, whisky was often carried. ‘Stags’ were among animals which were favourites. Both are an integral part of Scottish culture and cannot be separated. ‘Stag’ is an animal. Liquor, consumed in excess, may evoke animalistic tendencies. ‘Stags’ cannot, in […]

Medical Negligence and Consumer Law IV

Court cannot be oblivious of times when a warlike situation prevailed. It cannot also ignore or be blind to certain realities. In opinion of this Court, rather casual and superficial attention was paid to blood transfusion. These facts establish medical negligence. Bolam Test has gained widespread acceptance and application in Indian jurisprudence. CPL Ashish Kumar […]

Non Est Factum

The plea of non est factum basically means, ‘it is not my deed’. In Re: Saunders v Anglia Building Society, (1970) 3 ALL ER 961. A. The person pleading non est factum must belong to “class of persons, who through no fault of their own, are unable to have any understanding of the purpose of […]

Bhaiyaji

Plaintiff adopted the device mark ‘Bhaiyaji Kahin’ with effect from 2016 under Classes 38 and 41. It came to Plaintiff’s knowledge in 2022, Defendant was launching a show titled ‘Bhaiya Ji Superhit’. What would be included in Class 38 would be names of TV channels; names of programmes telecast on these channels would be subject […]

Dissimilar Trade Dress

Copying is not actionable at law if it stops short of infringement or passing off. Imitation, after all, is one form of flattery. The likelihood of confusion has to be examined from point of view of a customer of average intelligence and imperfect recollection, not an amnesiac. If features of dissimilarity are numerous, with little […]

Random Collectibles of Justice M.R. Shah at Supreme Court

02-11-2018 – 15-05-2023 The rule flowing from the maxim ‘generalia specialibus non derogant’ has been i) considered in Hari Shankar Jain, (1978) 4 SCC 16 and ii) explained in Mary Seward v. Owner of “Vera Cruz”, (1884) 10 AC 59, 68. Pharmacy Council of India v. Dr. S.K. Toshniwal Educational Trusts, [Transfer Petition (Civil) Nos. 87-101 of 2014]. […]

Comparative Advertising IV

Extolling of one’s positive features is permissible. However, denigration of a rival’s or a competitor’s product is completely impermissible. It would be reading too much into Santoor’s impugned advertisement, in my opinion, to extract from it anything derogatory or deprecating regarding Dettol. It does not even obliquely refer to moisturizing qualities, present or absent, of […]

Contracts of Insurance VI

Vedic Resorts and Hotel Pvt. Ltd., at West Bengal, had obtained insurance policies. A mob of 200-250, in August, 2009, damaged insured property. During course of investigation it was revealed, Gaffar Mollah after firing and throwing bombs at a Football Match, upon being chased, took shelter in Vedic Resorts. It was submitted, Vedic Resorts had […]

Compound Interest

A wide variety of rival submissions have been presented before us on whether Consumer Fora had been justified in awarding and approving ‘compound interest’. An attempt to seek ‘compound interest’ in such real estate dealings did not meet with approval of this Court and in Ireo Grace Realtech Pvt. Ltd. v. Abhishek Khanna, (2021) 3 […]

Rip Van Winkle Policy

Campus Activewear Limited’s press for relief can only be decided on claim of passing off. On a comparison, it is undeniable, there are structural and phonetic similarities between ‘CAMPUS’ and ‘CAMPS’. Rama Shankar Garg, sole proprietor of M/s. Baba Footwear, is the registered owner of the mark ‘CAMPS’. ‘CAMPS’ was accorded registration as early as […]

The Last Word

A Diversion for Lawyers and Others

Consumer Law