· The suit was filed seeking an injunction in respect of the Kannada film Pushpaka Vimana, stating that the same was a copy of the Korean film called Miracle in Cell No. 7.
· The brief facts are that the plaintiff approached the producers of the Korean film for rights to a Hindi remake and started researching for the remake. During the research, the plaintiff found the infringing Kannada film.
· The plaintiff submitted that an attempt was made to serve the notice of motion at the address of the defendant, by courier and by hand delivery as well. However, the plaintiff was told that the defendant had shifted its address, solely with an intention to avoid service of notice.
· The plaintiff’s counsel attempted to contact the defendant through emails and also on his mobile number through Whatsapp.
· The Court observed that the Truecaller mobile application showed the number to be defendant’s number. The same was also reflected on the contact information on Whatsapp. The Whatsapp status of the defendant also showed the name of the infringing Kannada film. The Court further observed that the Notice of Motion and the previous order of the Court were served on the defendant by Whatsapp, to which the defendant replied as well. Sevice of notice was also made through email and text message, which were also delivered.
· Therefore, in view of the above facts, the Court stated that nothing more could have been done for the service of Notice of Motion. The purpose of service is to put the other party to notice and to give him a copy of the papers, the mode for the same being irrelevant. The defendant may not have had service by registered post, but they most certainly had notice. Thus, the Court concluded that the defendant who avoids and evades service by regular modes, cannot be permitted to take advantage of that evasion.
For further reading, refer the attachment.
Further Reading