Delhi High Court Orders Centre To Block Websites Accused Of Defrauding People On Pretext of Recruitments At Croma

The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered suspension of infringing websites accused of defrauding people by taking money under the pretext of recruiting them at Tata-owned Croma, the electronics retail store chain.

Seeking registration details, including contact information, payment details and any other information related to identity of registrants of impugned websites from the domain name registrar, Justice Sanjeev Narula in the order said:

"Defendant No. 6 – Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Union of India and Defendant No. 7 – Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Union of India shall block access to the impugned websites [www.cromashare.com, www.croma- 2.com, www.croma-1.com, and www.croma-3.com], during the pendency of the proceedings."

The order was passed on a suit filed by Infiniti Retail Limited, the owner of the retail stores. Infiniti Retail is a subsidiary of the Tata Group. The Plaintiff in the suit sought permanent injunction restraining infringement of its registered trademark and copyright. 

During the hearing, the counsel representing the Plaintiff told the court that defendants send messaging to unsuspecting consumers through WhatsApp offering jobs at Croma. "The consumers, who fall prey to this scam, are made to transfer money to bank accounts/ UPI IDs provided by said Defendants," it was submitted.

The court was further told that victims have lost as much as Rs 1,65,000 to the fraud. "Due to continued usage of Plaintiff's registered marks and name and forged signatures of its CEO viz. Mr. Avijit Mishra by Defendants No. 1 to 4 for commission of fraud, Plaintiff is suffering loss of goodwill," the counsel said.

Justice Narula said the court is of the prima facie opinion that defendants have infringed Plaintiff's registered marks.

"Plaintiff has gathered substantial goodwill and reputation in the market and has generated considerable revenue through its business operations in India. Plaintiff's registered marks are well-known marks and if no ex-parte interim injunction is granted, Plaintiff will suffer an irreparable loss; balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and against Defendants No. 1 to 4," the court said.

Restraining the defendants from dealing in any manner in goods or products under Plaintiff's registered marks - 'Croma' and 'Infiniti Retail Limited - The future of retailing' till next date of hearing, the court also asked them to desist from using or registering the infringing domain names or listings on social websites or e-commerce websites or "doing any other act amounting to infringement of Plaintiff's registered marks and its copyright."

The court also directed the telecom service providers to temporarily suspend and disable the mobile numbers mentioned in the plaint and disclose their identity details. It further ordered the financial service providers to temporarily suspend and disable the UPI IDs mentioned in the plaint.

The matter will be heard next on March 27, 2023.

Title: INFINITI RETAIL LIMITED vs M/S CROMA -SHARE & ORS

Click Here To Read/Download Order