Bombay High Court Passes Judgment on Interim Application and Contempt Petition Arising from Alleged Violation of Injunction in Trademark Suit. Petitioners Allege Wilful Disobedience of Order Restraining Use of 'Khadi' Mark and Association Name.

Interim Application under Order XXXIX Rule 2A CPC and Contempt Petition alleging wilful violation of an injunction order passed in a commercial IP suit.

The Plaintiff (KVIC) sought punishment for wilful disobedience of the injunction order, including ordering the contemnors to be detained in civil prison, attaching their property, or imposing other sanctions.

The defendants allegedly violated an injunction restraining them from using the 'Khadi' mark, the MKVIA name, and engaging in activities connected with the Khadi mark by organizing a trade fair, entering into an agreement for sale, and maintaining a business directory listing.

The Injunction Order dated December 14, 2022 in Interim Application (L) No. 14308 of 2022 restrained the defendants from using the 'Khadi' mark and the MKVIA name. Earlier, Suit No. 213 of 2021 was withdrawn on an undertaking by MKVIA not to sell Khadi products without certification. Suit No. 282 of 2022 for recovery and possession of premises is pending.

Whether the defendants wilfully disobeyed the injunction order dated December 14, 2022, by (a) organizing Khadi Mahotsav 2.0, (b) executing an Agreement for Sale using the MKVIA name, and (c) maintaining a business directory listing with the MKVIA name. Whether the defendants' actions constitute contempt of court under Order XXXIX Rule 2A CPC.

Plaintiff submitted that the defendants wilfully violated the Injunction Order by organizing the Khadi Mahotsav 2.0 under the name of MKVIA, executing an Agreement for Sale using the name MKVIA, and maintaining a business directory listing with the MKVIA name, thereby breaching paras (a) and (b) of the Injunction Order.

In view of the above, the interim application is allowed in terms of prayer clauses (a) and (b), which read as follows: - "(a) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the suit, an injunction restraining the Defendant its partners, servants, representatives, agents and all others acting for and on its behalf from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, advertising directly or indirectly or providing any kind of goods and/or services under the mark 'KHADI', either as a word or as part of its trademark or [logo image not extracted ] including but not limited to the logo and/or any mark identical or deceptively similar to the Plaintiff's registered KHADI trademarks and Charkha logos, and/or using the mark KHADI or a deceptively similar variant thereof as a part of its trade name / business name including but not limited to 'Khadi Gramodyog Bhandar', 'Mumbai Khadi & Village Industries Association' and 'Mumbai Khadi Gramodyog Sandh Sachalith' or any other mark which, amounts to an infringement of the Plaintiff's registered trademarks; (b) Pending the hearing and final disposal of the suit, an injunction restraining the Defendant , its partners, servants, representatives, agents and all others acting for and on their behalf from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, advertising, directly or indirectly providing any kind of goods and / or services under the trademark 'KHADI' either as a word or as a part of any of its trademark, trade name or logos including but not limited to the logo [logo image not extracted ], and / or any mark identical or deceptively similar to the Plaintiff's KHADI trademarks and Charkha logos , in a manner as may amount to passing off of the Defendant's goods, services and business as those of the Plaintiffs. It is in this context that the acts of violation and contempt as alleged in both the Interim Application as well as the Contempt Petition need to be considered. These are summarized below: A] In May 2023, just within five months of the Injunction Order, a Khadi Mahotsav 2.0 (“Mahotsav”) was organised over three days, in the MKVIA’s premises. This was the second edition of a Khadi trade fair that MKVIA had held the previous year, just months before the Injunction Order. The promotional material and indeed the flagship banner of the event carried the names of Atharva Foundation and Atharva School of Fashion and Arts (“Atharva School”) and MKVIA, as the organisers of the event. The words “यांच्या संयुक्त विद्यमाने आयोजित” (meaning “jointly under the aegis of”) followed the names of Atharva School and MKVIA. The conduct of the Mahotsav under the aegis of MKVIA is assailed in the Interim Application under Order XXXIX Rule 2A of CPC as an act of wilful disobedience of the Injunction Order; B] In the Contempt Petition, the acts of contempt against the Injunction Order alleged are: (i) The execution of an Agreement for Sale dated March 30, 2025 (“Agreement for Sale”) was executed between MKVIA and a company called Rishabraj Estate Developers Pvt. Ltd. (“Rishabraj”) to sell certain immovable property of MKVIA to Rishabraj. The Agreement for Sale uses the full name of MKVIA as the entity name. The sale was reported in the newspapers. According to KVIC, even the use of the MKVIA name as an entity name having been prohibited by the Injunction Order, makes the execution of the Agreement for Sale a contemptuous act; and (ii) The name of MKVIA continues to be found in a business directory listing, which is assailed as a contemptuous act by MKVIA holding itself out and marketing itself in its original name as a Khadi garment shop.

The suit (Commercial IP Suit No. 580 of 2022) was filed by KVIC against MKVIA and its trustees for trademark infringement and passing off. An interim injunction was granted on December 14, 2022, restraining the defendants from using the 'Khadi' mark, the MKVIA name, and any deceptively similar marks. Subsequently, KVIC filed Interim Application No. 5867 of 2025 alleging violation by organizing Khadi Mahotsav 2.0. KVIC also filed Contempt Petition No. 13 of 2026 alleging further violations through an Agreement for Sale and business directory listing. Both proceedings were clubbed for hearing and disposed by this common judgment.

• Code of Civil Procedure, 1908: Order XXXIX Rule 2A
• Khadi & Village Industries Commission Act, 1956: