Case Note & Summary
The appeal arose from an ad-interim injunction granted in favour of the plaintiff in a copyright infringement suit concerning the song 'Kah Doon Tumhe' from the 1975 film 'Deewar'. The plaintiff, a film production house, claimed ownership of copyright in the film and its underlying musical and literary works, alleging that the defendants, co-producers of the upcoming film 'Baadshaho', had infringed those rights. The plaintiff had engaged the services of lyricist Sahir Ludhianvi and music composer R. D. Burman under contracts of service dated 3 April 1974, by which all copyright in the song vested in the plaintiff. The suit was filed seeking permanent injunction, and an urgent ad-interim injunction was granted on 22 August 2017. The defendants appealed against that order. By consent, the parties agreed that the appeal be treated as the final disposal of the interim application. During the proceedings, the Division Bench expressed strong disapproval of the Original Side Registry's practice of assigning lodging numbers without timely registration, causing confusion and inefficiency. The Court directed that all suits and interim applications be registered within 72 hours of lodging, and that the Registry report any non-cooperation by lawyers or litigants to the appropriate Court. The substantive order on the interim injunction was not recorded in the provided excerpt.
Headnote
A) Civil Procedure - High Court Original Side Practice - Registry's Duty to Register Matters - Bombay High Court (Original Side) Rules, 1980 - The Division Bench noted that the Registry was accepting commercial suits and applications without ensuring rule compliance, leading to confusion from temporary lodging numbers and identical numbering errors. Held that the Registry must complete registration within 72 hours of lodging, report non-cooperation by advocates or parties to the Court, and that the Original Side should follow the efficient practices of the Appellate Side. (Paras 10-11)
Issue of Consideration
COMMERCIAL APPEAL (L) NO. 70 OF 2017
Law Points
- Registry must register suits and applications within 72 hours of lodging
- procedural rules cannot be dispensed with automatically
- coordination with advocates and reporting non-cooperation to court mandated
