Bombay High Court Orders Patanjali Ayurved To Deposit Rs. 50 Lakh For Violating Injunction
Bombay High Court Orders Patanjali Ayurved To Deposit Rs. 50 Lakh For Violating Injunction
The Bombay High Court has ordered Patanjali Ayurved Ltd. to deposit Rs. 50,00,000 with the court as it violated an injunction/ad-interim order that restrained the company from selling its camphor products, amidst a Trademark infringement case filed by Mangalam Organics Ltd.
Mangalam Organics, the applicant, had filed a commercial IPR suit against Patanjali Ayurved, alleging passing-off and copyright infringement of their camphor products. The High Court issued an ad-interim order on August 30, 2023, prohibiting Patanjali from selling these products. In the recent application, the applicant asserted that Patanjali continued to breach the ad-interim order persistently.
In an affidavit dated June 2, 2024, Patanjali Ayurved issued an unconditional apology and pledged to comply with the court's directives. However, Rajneesh Mishra, Director of Patanjali Ayurved, admitted in the same affidavit to breaching the ad-interim order, acknowledging that camphor products worth Rs. 49,57,861 were sold after the injunction order.
Justice R.I. Chagla noted Patanjali Ayurved's admission of supplying camphor products post-injunction order. The Court emphasized that this admission required the defendants to rectify the contempt of the injunction order.
Observing that camphor products were sold even after June 24, 2024, with listings still active on Patanjali Ayurved's website as recently as July 8, 2024, the Court expressed intolerance for such persistent breaches of its orders.
Therefore, pending a decision on contempt proceedings for breaching the injunction order, the High Court directed Patanjali Ayurved to deposit Rs. 50,00,000 within one week to the account of the Prothonotary and Senior Master of the Court.
The matter is scheduled for further consideration on July 19, 2024.
