Counsel in Frooti trademark case in Bombay HC gets suicide threat from defendant

Last week, a lawyer received a phone call by a defendant in a trademark and copyright infringement case at the Bombay High Court, threatening to commit suicide unless the suit was withdrawn..In an order dated March 28, Justice SJ Kathawalla recorded that one Ghulam Moinuddin Khan, who is the proprietor of Royal Foods India, had called Vaibhav Kini, Senior Associate at Khaitan & Co, and stated that he would commit suicide if the suit against him was not withdrawn..This, after Justice Kathawalla had passed interim orders against the defendant, for infringing the registered trademarks and copyrights of Parle Agro Pvt Ltd, makers of popular mango drink, Frooti..On being told about the threat, the judge directed the police to make a note of the threat received by the advocate. The order states,.“Before this order was signed, Mr. Kini, Senior Associate from M/s. Khaitan & Co. has informed the Court that after the matter was heard on 28th March, 2018, he received a call from Defendant No.1 Gulam Moinuddin Khan at around 8.30 p.m. stating that if the suit against him is not withdrawn, he shall commit suicide. The local Police Station shall therefore, make a note of such threat received by the Advocate.”.The matter pertains to the infringement of the well-known Frooti mark, which is the intellectual property of Parle Agro. On March 16, the Court had held that the defendant’s ‘Frootin’ mark was identical to the plaintiff’s Frooti mark..The Court granted the plaintiffs several ad-interim reliefs without issuing notice to the defendants. Justice Kathawalla’s reasoning for doing so was that the purpose of granting the relief would be defeated if notice was given to the defendants..The defendant was present before the Court on March 28, and had admitted to his mistake, stating that he had been misled by his trademark agents. He also agreed in principle to pay a certain amount towards costs and damages..However, that very night, he would made the call to the petitioner’s counsel threatening suicide..The plaintiffs had also informed the Court on the same day that they were in the process of filing a police complaint against the defendant for misrepresenting his product as being approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)..In view of the said submission, Justice Kathawalla had ordered that the defendant be granted time till April 2, to appoint an advocate in this matter. He also directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) under whose jurisdiction the police station where the complaint would be filed, to set the law in motion against those found guilty..The DCP was also ordered to submit a forensic analysis of the defendant’s product to the Court, on or before April 15..Read the March 16 Order:.Read the March 28 Order