Delhi High Court halts Ram Mandir-related services by Khadi Organic for "preying on public's religious beliefs"

The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order restraining certain private parties (defendants) from using the “Khadi Organic” name and associated marks on a trademark infringement suit filed by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (plaintiff) [Khadi and Village Industries Commission v. Ashish Singh and ors]..Justice Sanjeev Narula passed the order on January 18 after being told that the defendants were misusing the goodwill and name of the Khadi Commission to secure donations and make fraudulent promises to supply “free Ram Mandir Prasad” on the payment of a delivery charge as well as Ram Mandir-related collectibles. The Court opined that the defendants appeared to be attempting to monopolise the Ram Mandir consecration event “by preying on the public's religious beliefs and devotion” and by misusing the Khadi Commission’s goodwill. .It, therefore, directed the defendants to halt such operations, suspend their website, www.khadiorganic.com and take down social media posts on the supply of free “Ram Mandir Prasad” as well as merchandise associated with the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishta (consecration/ inaugural ceremony) of January 22..The order was passed after the Court examined images of the defendants’ website and donation pages, which led the judge to arrive at a prima facie opinion that the defendants' “Khadi Organic” marks were deceptively similar to the “KHADI” trademark which is owned by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission..The Khadi Commission also alleged that there were several posts by disgruntled customers who complained that they placed orders with the defendants for Ram Mandir-related merchandise but did not receive the same. The plaintiff’s counsel added that the Commission too placed such an order for such merchandise but did not receive the order.The plaintiff argued that this indicated that the defendants had obtained money from customers on false promises and without providing a confirmation receipt or proof of dispatch of merchandise orders.“In these circumstances, the Court is convinced that the Plaintiff has been able to demonstrate a prima facie case in their favour and in case an ex-parte interim injunction is not granted, Plaintiff and will suffer an irreparable loss; balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and against Defendants No. 1 and 2. Defendants No. 1 and 2 and any person acting on their behalf are restrained from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, exporting, advertising, directly or indirectly, any kind of goods and/or services under the marks “KHADI ORGANIC” or mark identical or deceptively similar to Plaintiff’s registered KHADI marks, which would amount to infringement or passing off of the Plaintiff’s KHADI marks,” the Court proceeded to order..The Court was told that the defendants were asking for a delivery charge of ₹51 from Indian customers and 11 US dollars from foreign customers for the delivery of free "Ram Mandir prasad."Further, the defendants offered for sale various Ram Mandir-related merchandise, collectibles, food items, home temples, goods required to conduct religious ceremonies such as Gangajal, etc., through websites that bore the marks Khadi Earth and Khadi Organic. Such activities were marketed on platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest, the Court was told. The plaintiff-commission argued that the defendants had no right to misappropriate the KHADI mark and render a false impression that the plaintiff was affiliated with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust which is organizing the consecration ceremony.It was also submitted that several customers have posted videos and Instagram reels alleging that the defendant’s “free Prasad service” was a scam. The defendants, meanwhile, hosted a live session on YouTube on January 14, to clarify that it was a private initiative that was not overseen by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.The same video also informed that as of January 14, nearly 20 lakh orders were received. After the Khadi Commission made further inquiries, it was found that one of the defendants had also filed a trademark application on January 13, 2024, to get rights over the mark “KHADI ORGANIC.”The plaintiff, however, pointed out that it had successfully initiated action against the defendants in May 2022 and March 2023 before the World Intellectual Property Organization over the domain name www.khadiindia.us which was used to sell cosmetic products, clothing, home accessories etc. under the KHADI mark.After noting these submissions, the High Court passed an ex-parte interim order in the plaintiff’s favour. The matter will be heard next on May 27. .Advocates Shwetasree Majumder, Diva Arora Menon, Devyani Nath, Aiswarya Debadarshini and Shiv Mehrotra appeared for the Khadi Commission (plaintiff). .[Read Order]