Delhi HC restrains Ram Mandir service-related operation by 'Khadi Organic'

New Delhi [India], January 22 : The Delhi High Court recently restrained a person and a firm from using the mark 'Khadi Organic' and halted its Ram Mandir service-related operation of delivering free prasad of Ram Mandir Prasad on Pran Pratishtha day on January 22. The high court has recently passed the interim judgement in the suit filed by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission.
Justice Sanjeev Narula by way of an interim order passed on January 18, restrained defendants Ashish Singh and M/s DrillMaps India Private Limited and any person acting on their behalf from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, exporting, advertising, directly or indirectly, any kind of goods and/or services under the marks "Khadi Organic", "and/or mark identical or deceptively similar to plaintiff's registered KHADI marks.
The bench also directed both Defendants to takedown their social media pages active on social media platforms that use any mark identical or deceptively similar to Plaintiff's registered KHADI marks.
The high court, watching the images, arrived at the prima facie opinion that Defendants' Marks are deceptively similar to the plaintiff's KHADI mark, which is fully incorporated in the impugned marks.
"It appears that Defendants No 1 and 2 are attempting to monopolise the consecration event by preying on the public's religious beliefs and devotion and deceiving them into transferring money to Defendants No. 1 and 2, using the Plaintiff's goodwill," the high court said.
The high court also directed that Defendant No. 3 (Domain Name Registrar) shall suspend the operation of the domain name/website "www.khadiorganic.com" registered by them and shall also maintain status quo with regards to the ownership of the said domain name.
The high court also issued notice and directed to file reply within four weeks. Rejoinder thereto, if any, be filed within two weeks thereafter, the court said. The matter has been listed on May 27, 2024.
The court also issues summons to the defendants, directing them to file a written statement within 30 days.
The Plaintiff Khadi and Village Industries Commission ( KVIC) alleged that the Defendants are perpetrating fraud on the general public by creating a false association with the Plaintiff's well-known "KHADI" mark.
It was argued that In January, 2024, the Plaintiff came across a reel/ video posted on instagram advertising a website "www.khadiorganic.com" for delivery of free prasad from the Pran Pratishta ceremony scheduled to be held on 22 January 2024 at the Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
As per the information hosted on the homepage of aforesaid website, members of the public, who are desirous of obtaining the "Ram Mandir Prasad" for free, could place their orders by filling a form provided on the website. For such delivery, a charge of Rs. 51 for Indian customers, and USD 11 for foreign customers, is sought, the counsel argued.
On further exploring the impugned website, the Plaintiff learnt that Defendant No. 1, Ashish Singh, has established the brand "KHADI ORGANIC", which is a part of Defendant No. 2-company [M/s DrillMaps India Private Limited], the counsel added.
The counsel argued that Defendants No. 1 and 2 are offering various products such as garments, collectibles, food items, home temples, goods required to conduct religious ceremonies such as Gangajal, on the website, which bear marks "KHADI EARTH".
Additionally, the impugned website contains a tab titled "Donate us", wherein financial contributions are sought from the public to facilitate the free prasad initiative being carried out by Defendants No. 1 and 2.
It was also stated that as per the Plaintiff's knowledge, the website "www.khadiorganic.com" was registered on 23rd December, 2021, but has become operative only recently. The website further endorses links redirecting the consumers to various social media profiles of "KHADI ORGANIC" brand. Defendants' account on Pinterest uses the device mark " Khadi Organic".
Defendants No. 1 and 2 are openly promoting their website as an "official website for sale of Ayodhya Ram Mandir prasad" on various platforms, such as Instagram. The afore-noted "KHADI ORGANIC" marks subsume the Plaintiff's "KHADI" trademark, petitioner's counsel argued.
Defendants No. 1 and 2 have no right to misappropriate Plaintiff's registered KHADI marks and to render a false impression that Plaintiff is affiliated with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, which is organizing the consecration ceremony, the plea stated.