Supreme Court of India orders for fast-tracking IPR cases

In a significant decision given by the Supreme Court of India recently, it has been held that the matters relating to Trademarks, copyrights and patents should be decided by the trial courts very expeditiously. This judgment is very important as it will instill sense of confidence of multinational companies in the Indian judicial system for Redressal of their grievances relating to instances of infringement and passing off of their intellectual property rights. They will have a confidence that their cases relating to IPRs would be decided expeditiously and they would not have to wait for several months and years to get a judgment in their case. The case is reported as M/s Shree Vardhman Rice & General mills vs M/s Amar Singh Chawalwala. For complete text of this judgment, you may email me at sg@sgsolicitors.com.

Supreme Court rejects petition of Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. in Ambani brothers dispute over gas from KG Basin

Supreme Court of India today on 7.5.2010 pronounced judgment in the much awaited Reliance case titled as "Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. vs Reliance Industries Ltd. and others" SLP (Civil) No. 14997/2009 (the arguments in this case were over and matter was reserved for orders on 18.12.2009). The Supreme Court ostensibly rejected the petition of Anil Ambani led Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. petition and upheld the order of Bombay High Court. The Court held that family MoU is not binding and directed RIL and RNRL to renegotiate Production Sharing Contract (PSC) within 6 weeks and to submited the renegotiated contract to the Company Court.
For the text of the judgment, you may kindly email me at sg@sgsolicitors.com

Copyright infringement alleged in the recent movie 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge'

As per a news report, a controversy has erupted now regarding the movie 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge' which was released in February/March 2010, starring Ajay Devgan, Konkana Sen Sharma and Paresh Rawal. Noted novelist and write Mr.Aabid Surti has alleged that the story of the said film has been lifted from his Gujarati novel 'Bauter Varas No Babo'. He has filed a complaint with The Film Writers Association (FWA), demanding Rs.1.15 crore as compensation.
On the other hand, the film's producer said that his film is inspired not from his novel but from another acclaimed writer Sharad Joshi's short story titled 'Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge'.
Only time will tell who is right.

Calcutta High Court stays release of film HOUSEFUL with offending song from yesteryear blockbuster Laawaris

Calcutta High Court on 29.4.2010 stayed the release of latest movie 'HOUSEFUL' with the offending song 'apni to jaise taise'. The film starring Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. This film produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and directed by Sajid Khan is entangled in legal controvery over its song “apni to jaise taise” which is apparently lifted and remixed from the old blockbuster Laawaris which was produced by Prakash Mehra.

Punit Mehra, son of Prakash Mehra has filed Suit No.112/2010 in Calcutta High Court against Sajid, objecting to this song and asking for removing this song from the movie on the ground that the said song was written by Prakash Mehra and he had copyright in the lyrics of said song. Earlier, music director Anandji and heirs of music director Kalyanji also filed Suit No.109/2010 claiming that producers of Housefull used the song without having any copyright. The Court (Justice Nadira Patherya) stayed the movie with said song on 29.4.2010. However, Sajid still released the movie with offending song on 30.4.2010 Friday.

On 30.4.2010, the case was mentioned before the Court and the producer, director and SAREGAMA (Music company) sought time for compliance of the stay order. They were restrained from exhibiting the said offending song in the film. As they expressed inability to stop the release in view of unavailability of the stay order, the Court directed them on 30.4.2010 to file in court on 3rd May 2010 the statement of collections made on 30th April, 1st May and 2nd May 2010.


Sunil Goel advocateB.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm

Text of Judgment of Supreme Court of India in the case of Khushboo, Indian Actress

The judgment given by Hon'ble Supreme Court of India on 28th April 2010 exonerating Indian actress Khushboo from all criminal charges regarding her comments on extra marital affairs is now available with me. It's a 17 page judgment. It's not possible to write 17 pages on this post. Anybody who wants the text of this judgment can email me at sg@sgsolicitors.com.



Sunil Goel advocateB.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm

Supreme Court quash cases against Khushboo, Indian actress

The Supreme Court of India has yesterday quashed all criminal complaints lodged in various parts of the country few years back against South indian actress Khushboo on her remarks on extra marital affairs. The judgment was pronounced by Bench comprising chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, Justice Deepak Verma and Justice BS Chauhan. Keep watching this space for complete text of this judgment.


Sunil Goel advocateB.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm

Happy New Year 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010 TO YOU

keep visiting the Blog for some interesting articles and news

WISHING YOU ALL THE VERY BEST ON THIS JOYOUS OCCASION OF THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS.
MAY THIS DEEPAWALI BRING HAPPINESS, JOY, GOOD HEALTH, PROSPERITY AND PEACE OF MIND TO YOU AND THE FAMILY.

BEST WISHES AND REGARDS

SUNIL GOEL
Advocate
9810215488
www.sgsolicitors.com

A330 Air France during a trans Atlantic flight between Rio to Paris

The world saw the disappearance of an A330 Air Frane during a trans Atlantic flight between Rio to Paris a few days back.Two shots taken inside the plane before it crashed. Unbelievable! Photos taken inside the GOL B 737 aircraft that was involved in a mid air collision and crashed..... A B737 had a mid air collision with the Embraer Legacy while cruising at 35,000 feet over South America . The Embraer Legacy, though seriously damaged with the winglet ripped off, managed to make a landing at a nearby airstrip in the midst of the Amazon jungle. The crew and passengers of the Embraer Legacy had no idea what they had hit. The B737however crashed, killing all crew and passengers on board.The two photos attached were apparently taken by one of the passengers in the B737, just after the collision and before the aircraft crashed. The photos were retrieved from the camera's memory stick. You will never get to see photos like this. In the first photo, there is a gaping hole in the fuselage through which you can see the tailplane and vertical fin of the aircraft. In the second photo, one of the passengers is being sucked out of the gaping hole. These photos were found in a digital Casio Z750, amidst the remains in Serra do Cachimbo. Although the camera was destroyed, the Memory Stick was recovered. Investigating the serial number of the camera, the owner was identified as Paulo G. Muller, an actor of a theatre for children known in the outskirts of Porto Alegre . It can be imagined that he was standing during the impact with the Embraer Legacy and during the turbulence, he managed to take these photos, just seconds after the tail loss the aircraft plunged. So the camera was found near the cockpit. The structural stress probably ripped the engines away, diminishing the falling speed, protecting the electronic equipment but not unfortunately the victims. Paulo Muller leaves behind two daughters, Bruna and Beatriz.
Sunil Goel advocate
B.Sc. L.Lb L.Lm

Supreme Court rejects Writ Petition of Ram Gopal Varma, regarding forthcming movie 'RANN'

Supreme court of India on 25.5.2009 dismissed as withdrawn the writ petition filed by Bollywood Director Ram Gopal Varma in which he had challenged the decision of Censor Board to not to grant Certificate to exhibit his forthcoming movie RANN. The Censor Board had raised objections that in the said movie, the national anthem of India has been materially tinkered with, which is not permissible under law. The Court asked him to approach the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal for relief. THe Court directed the Tribunal to decide the matter in one month. The Court made it clear that Mr. Ram Gopal Verma could approach the Supreme Court again, if he was not satisfied with the tribunal’s decision. The decision was given by a vacation Bench comprising of Justice V.S. Sirpurkar and Justice R.M. Lodha.

Justice Sirpurkar told senior counsel Arun Jaitley (who appeared for Ramgopal Varma): “We have read it. It [the national anthem] has been distorted, and it gives a totally negative sense. It seems every line of the national anthem has been filmed wrong. Nobody has any right to tinker with the national anthem. You go to the tribunal.”
In his petition, Mr. Verma said: “This song is part of a promotional film, which was submitted for certification to the Board for release on May 6. The Central Board of Film Certification, through the impugned order of May 8, has denied certification.”
He said the petition raised important questions of law: whether the impugned order takes a narrow, constricted and perverse ground of alleged distortion of the national anthem in the petitioner’s promo/song, more so when flags of such political parties as the Indian National Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party are tricolour and can be said to be distortion of the national flag?; can a song be composed in a respectful manner with the words of the national song, ‘Vande Maa Taram’ or the national anthem?; can there be a flag with the same colours as the national flag, but having other symbols in place of the Ashoka Chakra at the centre?; and can a citizen be prohibited from using the national symbol/anthem/song for artistic expression in a respectful manner?
He sought the order quashed and a directive to grant certification for the film.
(I will post the Text of the Order shortly).
Sunil Goel advocate