'Preying On Religious Beliefs': Delhi High Court Orders Suspension Of Website Offering To Sell 'Ayodhya Ram Mandir Prasad' For Free

The Delhi High Court has recently ordered suspension of a website under the name of “Khadi Organic” which was promoting itself as an “official website for sale of Ayodhya Ram Mandir prasad” on various social media platforms.

The website was offering for delivery of free prasad from the Pran Pratishta ceremony scheduled to be held today at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

Justice Sanjeev Narula observed that the website was preying on the public's religious beliefs and devotion and deceiving them into transferring money to its owners using the goodwill of Khadi and Village Industries Commission, a statutory body established for the promotion and development of textiles.

The court directed the two owners of the website to takedown their social media pages using any mark identical or deceptively similar to Khadi and Village Industries Commission's registered “KHADI” marks.

It also restrained the owners from manufacturing, selling or offering for sale any kind of goods or services under “KHADI ORGANIC” mark or any other marks which would amount to infringement or passing off of “KHADI” marks.

Justice Narula observed that the website owners falsely obtained money from the members of the public without providing a confirmation receipt or proof of dispatch of the “prasad.”

Khadi and Village Industries Commission filed the trademark infringement suit against one Ashish Singh who had established the brand “KHADI ORGANIC”, and the company namely M/s DrillMaps India Private Limited.

It was alleged that the website stated that members of the public, who are desirous of obtaining the “Ram Mandir Prasad” for free, could place their orders by filling a form and would have to pay Rs. 51 (for Indian customers) and USD 11 (for foreign customers).

The plaint submitted that the mark “KHADI ORGANIC” subsumed the “KHADI” trademark and that the defendant had no right to misappropriate Khadi and to render a false impression that it was is affiliated with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust organizing the consecration ceremony. In these circumstances, the Court is convinced that the Plaintiff has been able to demonstrate a prima facie case in their favour and in case an ex-parte interim injunction is not granted, Plaintiff and will suffer an irreparable loss; balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and against Defendants No. 1 and 2,” the court said.

Counsel for Plaintiff: Ms. Shwetasree Majumder, Ms. Diva Arora Menon, Ms. Devyani Nath, Ms. Aiswarya Debadarshini and Mr. Shiv Mehrotra, Advocates