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Tag: High Court

  • Delhi High Court Orders Patanjali to Pause Negative Ads Targeting Dabur

    Delhi High Court Orders Patanjali to Pause Negative Ads Targeting Dabur

    MUMBAI: The rivalry between India’s leading Ayurvedic brands entered the legal arena this week, as the Delhi High Court ordered Patanjali Ayurved to halt all advertisements disparaging Dabur’s chyawanprash. The directive reflects the judiciary’s increasing scrutiny of advertising claims in the high-stakes wellness sector.

    The dispute began after Dabur, one of India’s oldest and most established names in Ayurvedic health, alleged that Patanjali’s recent campaigns not only targeted its flagship product, but also implied
    that competitors use inferior or artificial ingredients—claims Dabur described as misleading and potentially damaging to consumer trust.

    In its preliminary order, the court noted that while comparative advertising is allowed, it cannot cross into unfair or baseless disparagement. The judges observed that advertising should inform, not
    mislead, and must avoid statements that unjustly tarnish the reputation of rival products.

    The interim order requires Patanjali to suspend all negative advertisements against Dabur chyawanprash until further notice. The case will proceed for detailed examination of the ad content and
    industry standards.

    The legal intervention underscores the fierce marketing competition in India’s booming Ayurvedic and natural health market, where trust and authenticity are prized by both brands and consumers. Industry experts say the ruling sends a clear signal to marketers: fair play remains essential in the fight for health-conscious buyers.

    The matter is scheduled for further hearing in the coming weeks, when the court will assess the factual basis of Patanjali’s claims and address the broader issue of responsible advertising in the wellness
    sector. For now, both companies—and the wider industry—are watching closely, aware that the outcome could set the tone for brand battles in India’s fast-growing consumer market.

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  • Delhi High Court blocks rogue sites from streaming India–England series

    Delhi High Court blocks rogue sites from streaming India–England series

    MUMBAI: In a significant win for content rights holders, the Delhi high court has restrained multiple rogue websites from illegally streaming the India tour of England 2025 (ITE 2025), following a copyright infringement plea filed by JioStar India Pvt Ltd (formerly Star India Pvt Ltd).

    Justice Saurabh Banerjee granted a ‘dynamic+’ injunction, enabling real-time blocking of infringing websites during live match broadcasts.

    The five-Test series between India and England is scheduled from June to August 2025 and JioStar holds exclusive digital media rights for ITE 2025 under a licensing agreement with Culver Max Entertainment Pvt Ltd (Sony).

    JioStar alleged various third party websites of streaming IPL 2025 illegally and were likely to do so again during the England tour.

    As per the court’s orders:

    . Immediate suspension of the four listed rogue domains by their respective registrars, including Namecheap Inc., Sav.com LLC, and Tucows Domains Inc.

    .  Direction to internet service providers — including Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea — to block access to these websites within 72 hours.

    .  Permission for JioStar to notify additional infringing websites on affidavit during the series, without the need for separate court orders.

    .  Coordination mandated between the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to ensure ISP compliance.

    .  Inclusion of unnamed infringers as John Doe defendants to allow future enforcement.

    This comes after the court addressed the growing challenge posed by “hydra-headed” piracy websites, which routinely mask ownership and replicate via mirror domains.

    “The rights of an intellectual property holder cannot be rendered otiose in this world of rapidly developing technology,” the order observed.

    The judgement referenced recent rulings such as Universal City Studios v. Dotmovies.baby and Applause Entertainment v. Meta Platforms, reflecting evolving judicial strategies to curb digital piracy. The matter is scheduled for the next hearing on 13 October 2025. In the interim, JioStar has been directed to file regular affidavits identifying any new infringing domains during the India–England series.

  • Sony welcomes NCLT order to start Manthan’s liquidation process

    Sony welcomes NCLT order to start Manthan’s liquidation process

    MUMBAI : The television distribution landscape is getting treacherous day by day with the rapid evolution of video consumption and the yo-yoing of pricing regulations by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). Carcasses of the leaders in the Cable TV distribution are lining the streets of India’s television land. A leader in Kolkata for many years, Manthan has been facing challenges with its mounting debts and dues that have forced its managers to give up the ghost as well as a nudge from the regulators.

    The corporate debtor, Manthan Broadband Services has been facing a financial crunch, bankruptcy, and challenges in repaying its debts to the creditors. Therefore, the liquidation of the Manthan is becoming a growing concern currently. Since the financial year 2019, there have been no business operations of the corporate debtor and no regular employees are working in the firm.

    Sony Pictures Networks India moves high court

    Sony Pictures Networks moved to the Kolkata high court and in January, it obtained an order directing National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) to hear Manthan’s corporate insolvency resolution matter and pass an appropriate order within three months. An attempt to submit a resolution plan to revive Manthan was persistently opposed by Sony along with Alliance Broadband (another creditor of Manthan) and Kuldeep Verma (the appointed liquidator of Manthan currently). The long-pending Manthan matter finally was put to rest with NCLT passing an order on 6 April 2022 directing the liquidation of Manthan.

    Further, Sony Pictures is the only broadcaster that got the title deeds of three acres of land as collateral from Manthan under a watertight memorandum of understanding (MoU). It is the first time that any broadcaster used such a method to secure their dues. Incidentally, it is probably the first time that an Indian broadcaster had thought of such an idea of using real estate as collateral for securing outstanding financial dues.

    This could be described as a positive development for the broadcaster since it can now deal with the said portion of Manthan’s land parcel under the relevant provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

    The collateral will help the broadcaster to gain the ‘Secured Operational Creditor’ status which was granted by the NCLT in January 2021. The first of its kind judgement in the entire broadcasting industry. The operational creditors are not given secured creditor status due to lack of collateral; no other broadcaster has ever taken any collateral in this industry.

    The Manthan case chronology

    On 8 March 2021, an order was first passed by the NCLT that Manthan should be liquidated. The decision to liquidate the Distribution Platform Operator (DPO) was taken by NCTL after various opportunities given to the company for producing a resolution plan. Manthan has undergone the insolvency proceedings on 18 September 2019 and the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) was initiated after the financial creditor, Alliance Broadband Services had filed a petition in the court for claiming a defaulted loan amount of more than Rs 10.20 crore.

    In addition, there were two parties Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd (ACTL) and India Cable Network Company Ltd (ICNCL) who expressed their interest in submitting the resolution plan for the corporate debtor. However, both the bidders withdrew from CIRP after submitting a resolution plan.

    The committee of creditors (CoC) passed a resolution for winding up Manthan and Kuldeep Verma, the resolution professional had accordingly filed appropriate applications before the NCLT. The issue was further discussed during the 10th CoC meeting in March 2021 and ultimately, in the 11th CoC meeting, the decision to liquidate Manthan was approved after casting 100 per cent votes from the creditors.

    The industry spokesperson said that they have waited for a long time for the smooth running of the CIRP of Manthan. However, even after best efforts, the revival plan for Manthan could not happen within the timelines, including seeking extension and exclusion.

    So now, with the passing of the order by the tribunal for Manthan’s liquidation process, the creditors expect that it will streamline everything and facilitate recovering the pending dues from the corporate debtor.

  • NBA challenges amended Cable TV rules in Kerala High Court

    NBA challenges amended Cable TV rules in Kerala High Court

    New Delhi: The Kerala high court has directed the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B) not to take any coercive action against members of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) over non-compliance with the Cable TV Act.

    The court issued the orders on a plea filed by the NBA which represents several news channels against certain provisions of the amended Cable TV Rules which provide for an oversight mechanism over the content of news channels. The court has also issued notice to the ministry and sought its stand on the NBA’s petition within two weeks.

    In its plea, NBA contended that the amended provisions in the Cable TV Rules create an oversight mechanism that gives the executive “unfettered, unbridled and excessive powers to regulate the content of the television channels of the news broadcasters”.

    NBA’s counsel told the court that the amended rules are similar to the new IT rules which NBA had challenged recently. “Under the amended Cable TV Rules also, the oversight mechanism would be headed by an additional secretary-level officer who would have the power to overrule decisions of the self-regulatory body already in place and which is headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court,” he added.

    Last month, the Centre had notified the Cable Television Network (Amendment) Rules, 2021 to provide for a three-layer statutory mechanism for the redressal of consumer’s complaints relating to the content broadcast by TV channels.

    The amended rules stipulate a three-layer grievance redressal mechanism – self-regulation by broadcasters, self-regulation by the self-regulating bodies of broadcasters, and an oversight mechanism by the central government. The rules require each broadcaster to establish a grievance or complaint redressal mechanism, appoint an officer to deal with the complaints, display the contact details of their grievance officer on their website or interface and be a member of a self-regulating body.

    As per the rules, any person aggrieved by the content of a programme of a channel may file his/her complaint in writing to the broadcaster first. “The broadcaster shall, within 24 hours of a complaint being filed, generate and issue an acknowledgment to the complainant for his information and record. The broadcaster shall dispose of the complaint and inform the complainant of its decision within 15 days of receipt of such complaint,” the rules stated.

  • SC to hear Centre’s plea on new IT Rules on 16 July

    SC to hear Centre’s plea on new IT Rules on 16 July

    New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the proceedings in connection with petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centre’s new IT rules before various high courts.

    The Centre had approached the apex court on Tuesday seeking transfer of all pending pleas challenging its new IT rules to itself, and had also sought a stay on the proceedings in various courts. However, the bench said that it will not pass any order as of now, except tagging the transfer petition with the said special leave petition (SLPs).

    The Court will now hear the Centre’s plea on 16 July along with a pending matter related to the regulation of over-the-top (OTT) platforms. 

    Numerous petitions challenging the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, are currently pending in various high courts across the country.

    The new rules notified on 25 February, came into effect on 26 May recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media. According to the new IT Rules, social media and streaming companies will be required to take down contentious content quicker, appoint grievance redressal officers and assist in investigations. The rules also seek to regulate the functioning of online media portals and publishers, over-the-top (OTT) platforms and social media intermediaries.

    Some of the pleas pending before the Delhi high court have sought striking down of specific part of the IT Rules on the ground that it allegedly violates Article 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution, Article 14 of the Constitution by creating an unreasonable classification and by setting up a parallel adjudicatory mechanism to be overseen by the officials of the executive and is ultra vires the IT Act.

  • News Broadcasters Association challenges new IT rules in High Court

    News Broadcasters Association challenges new IT rules in High Court

    New Delhi: Over a month after the new IT rules came into effect, the News Broadcasters Association (NBA) has filed a plea in the Kerala high court challenging the new rules stating that they give government authorities “excessive powers” to “unreasonably and impermissibly restrict” the freedom of speech and expression of the media.

    In a detailed statement, the NBA said the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines & Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, are ultra vires to the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000 apart from being violative of Article 14 (equality before law) and 19(1)(g) (right to freedom to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business) of the Constitution. It also stated the challenge is to Part III (Code of Ethics and Procedure and Safeguards in relation to Digital Media) of the IT rules as they create an “oversight mechanism giving the executive unfettered, unbridled and excessive powers to regulate the content of digital news media”.

    “The grievance redressal mechanism created and the powers delegated have a ”chilling effect” on the content of the media. The writ petition also states that the executive by creating such a structure, has made inroads into judicial power and vested itself with powers reserved exclusively for the judiciary and such exercise of power is without jurisdiction,” the statement read.

    The News Broadcasters Association (NBA) represents the private television news & current affairs broadcasters, and currently has 25 leading news and current affairs broadcasters (comprising 78 news and current affairs channels) as its members. According to NBA, the IT Act also does not contain any provision for dealing with the “content” of any programme and therefore, the rules are ultra vires the parent Act.

    The rules violate Article 14 as there is neither any parity nor any valid exercise of classification in the rules as ‘intermediaries’ have been equated with ”digital news media”, it said. The Programme Code contains vague, imprecise, and ambiguous terms concerning “content” such as “good taste”, “snobbish attitude” and therefore, does not align with the judgment of the Supreme Court.

    Meanwhile, the Centre has recently approached the Supreme Court seeking to transfer all pleas regarding the new IT rules to itself. Several digital news media platforms have already challenged the 2021 IT rules in various lower court courts. 

    The new rules notified on 25 February, came into effect on 26 May recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media portals and publishers, over-the-top (OTT) platforms, and social media intermediaries. Under the new rules, the digital publishers are required to take urgent steps for appointing a grievance officer, if not done, and place all relevant details in the public domain. “They also need to constitute self-regulatory bodies through mutual consultation so that the grievances are addressed at the level of publishers or the self-regulating bodies themselves,” according to the ministry.

    In June, Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA), composed of digital arms of 13 leading media companies of the country had also moved the high court against the rules, which it said: “violate the fundamental right of equality (Article 14) and freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1)(a)”. According to DNPA, the online news portals of traditional media houses, which run newspapers and TV channels, do not come within the purview of IT Rules

    The Foundation of Independent Journalism (the non-profit company that publishes The Wire) and legal website, LiveLaw has also filed petitions against the new rules.

  • HC issues notice to Centre over media firms’ plea against IT rules

    New Delhi: The Madras high court has issued a notice to Centre over a plea filed by the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) against the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021.

    This petition challenged the constitutionality of the Rules and alleged that it violates the fundamental right of equality (Article 14), freedom of speech and expression (Article 19(1)(a), and the right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business (Article 19 (1) (g)). The association sought a stay on Rules 12, 14, and 16 of the IT Rules 2021.

    Formed in 2018, DNPA is an organisation comprising of the digital arms of leading media companies of the country, including the ABP Network, Amar Ujala, Dainik Bhaskar Corp, Express Network, HT Digital Streams, IE Online Media Services, NDTV Convergence, Lokmat Media, Jagran Prakashan, TV Today Network, The Malayala Manorama, Times Internet Limited, and Ushodaya Enterprises. 

    According to DNPA, the online news portals of traditional media houses, which run newspapers and TV channels, do not come within the purview of IT Rules.  “While ‘newspaper’ is not governed by the IT Rules 2021, ‘publisher of news and current affairs content’ is governed by Part three of the IT Rules 2021. This implies that some of the members of DNPA association which are primarily newspaper publishers would not be governed by the IT Rules 2021 if they only published newspapers. But by making available, inter alia, the same content on a digital platform, they ought to be governed by the IT Rules 2021. Therefore, the IT Rules 2021 have created a distinction that is vague and arbitrary…” stated the plea, Live Law reported.

    The plea also contended that there are several regulations in place already for traditional and legacy media outlets in print and broadcasting, which have been operating before the advent of the internet and digital media. The petition filed by DNPA and journalist Mukund Padmanabhan was tagged along with the petition filed by Carnatic singer TM Krishna, which also claimed that the IT Rules 2021 were in violation of the Right to Privacy.  

    The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 that into effect on 26 May recommend a three-tier mechanism for the regulation of all online media. Under the rules, the digital publishers are required to take urgent steps for appointing a grievance officer, if not done, and place all relevant details in the public domain. “They also need to constitute self-regulatory bodies through mutual consultation so that the grievances are addressed at the level of publishers or the self-regulating bodies themselves,” according to the ministry.

  • HC refuses to stay CCI notice to WhatsApp against its new privacy policy

    New Delhi: In a major setback for Facebook-owned WhatsApp, the Delhi high court on Wednesday refused to stay the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) notice to the US-based social media giant seeking information for a probe into its controversial new privacy policy. 

    The vacation bench said an application seeking stay of further steps in the investigation already stands filed in which notice was issued to the Director General of CCI in which no interim relief was given by the division bench on 6 May and is listed for consideration on 9 July, adding that, “at this stage, it does not consider it appropriate to stay the operation of impugned notice dated 4 June at this stage.”

    CCI had launched an investigation into WhatsApp’s new privacy policy on 24 March, amid the raging debate over users’ privacy on social media platforms. The antitrust body had taken a prima facie view that the messaging app’s new policy is in contravention of India’s Competition Act. 

    On the other hand, the two social media platforms had contended that when the top court was looking into the privacy policy, then CCI ought not to have intervened in the issue. WhatsApp had also told the court that private conversations continued to be protected by end-to-end encryption and WhatsApp cannot read what people message each other.

    The US company had sought a stay on the CCI’s 4 June notice seeking information into the privacy policy and urged the court to issue directions to authorities concerned not to take any coercive action against the messaging application till the next date of hearing. Facebook and WhatsApp had also filed a fresh plea against a single judge order issued on 22 April dismissing their pleas against the probe CCI ordered into the instant messaging app’s new privacy policy. 

  • HC notice to Karnataka govt, MIB over obscene content in media

    HC notice to Karnataka govt, MIB over obscene content in media

    New Delhi: The Karnataka high court has sought the state government’s response in a public interest litigation (PIL) to issue directions to frame statutory rules to prevent publication of indecent and obscene content as part of the news programme in electronic and print media.

    The court also issued notice to the ministry of Information and broadcasting (MIB) and state police in this regard.

    According to the petitioner, various media houses publish obscene videos and partially blurred nude photographs and videos of several incidents as part of news programmes. Some TV anchors also repeat the vulgar language used in the video clips to make it loud and clear so that the public can understand the language that is used by the compromised individuals, he stated in his plea, as reported by Bar and Bench.

    Though Section 5 of Cable TV (Regulation) Act-1995 provides that no person shall transmit or re-transmit through a cable service or any programme unless such programme is in conformity with the prescribed programme code, there is no definition for programme code, he submitted before the court.

    The petitioner prayed that publication of such content should be made a cognisable offence, which will have a reasonably deterrent punishment. Apart from framing guidelines, he also sought directions to prevent the electronic media from analysing the sub-judice matters before the court and direct the state police not to leak information collected during the course of investigation regarding any case to the press, public or media.

    The matter will be next heard on 7 June.

  • Dish TV receives MIB notice for payment of Rs 4,164.05 crore

    Dish TV receives MIB notice for payment of Rs 4,164.05 crore

    KOLKATA:The Indian ministry of information & broadcasting (MIB) and  direct to home television provider Dish TV have been at loggerheads over this matter for sometime now. And the latter has informed the Bombay stock exchange (BSE)  that the former has brought up its demand to pay up long disputed licence fees totalling Rs 4,164.5 crore once again.  The amount includes interest and the demand from the MIB is that Dish TV pay it up within 15 days.

    The Jawahar Goel headed firm says that the MIB has clarified that the amount  is further subject to verification and audit and the outcome of various court cases pending before the TDSAT, the high court of Jammu and Kashmir and the supreme court.

    “In this regard, we would like to inform that the ministry of information and broadcasting had issued a demand notice in the year 2014 for the licence fee pertaining from the date of issuance of DTH License till financial year 12 – 13. The said demand notice was challenged by the company before the TDSAT and the said demand has been stayed by the TDSAT, which stay continues to be in force,” Dish TV said in the regulatory  filing with the BSE. .

    Further, the company's petition is also pending before the  Jammu and Kashmir high court where it has challenged  inter alia the quantum / applicability of licence fee and imposition of interest. Similar writs are also pending before the apex court.

    Dish TV informed that it is studying the communication to determine its next steps. The DTH licence  fee matter has already been through several rounds of litigation, the final outcomes of which are yet to be argued and concluded, it added. It would update the stock exchanges on any material developments.

    The notice has come at a time when the government has opened up 100 per cent foreign direct investment in DTH, extended the duration of licences given to operators.