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Judgment
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)
This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.
These are part heard matters. The present batch of matters relate to domain names being registered by unknown third parties infringing trademark rights of various brand owners and implementation of Court orders by different concerned entities including the Domain Name Registrars (hereinafter “DNRs”).
In response to the challenges arising out of said unauthorised registrations, from time to time, various directions have been passed by this Court in respect of blocking, locking and suspending of the infringing domain names, as also implementation of Court orders by various DNRs which may or may not be located in India.
Beneficiary Name Lookup Facility
On the last date of hearing i.e., 7th February, 2025, the Court had heard the submissions of Mr. Pushkar, ld. Counsel for National Payments Corporation of India (hereinafter “NPCI”) and passed the following order:
“9.Today, Mr. Pushkar, ld. Counsel submits that he has taken appropriate instructions on the specific query of the Court on the last date of hearing. It is submitted that it would not be possible for the NPCI to issue an advisory to the banks in terms of an order of the Court directing that no individuals should be allowed to register bank accounts or UPI IDs or VPAs with certain brand names. It is further submitted that the creation of UPI IDs or the VPAs is the responsibility of the respective banks and not of NPCI, accordingly, it is up to the banks, who permit registration of the IDs, to ensure that there is no violation or use of key words which are impermissible.
10.Considering the above, let the Indian Banks Association (hereinafter “IBA”) file an affidavit addressing the above, including the issue as to what measures can be taken by the IBA to ensure compliance by all banks of any order which may be passed by the Court directing that no individuals should be allowed to register bank accounts or UPI IDs or VPAs with the certain brand names.
11.Let the said affidavit be filed by the next date of hearing.
12.Adjournment is sought on behalf of ld. Counsel for IBA -Mr. Rajesh Kumar Gautam. Ld. Counsel is directed to remain physically present in Court on the next date to assist the Court in the present matter.”
Today, the Indian Banks Association (hereinafter “IBA”) has filed an affidavit dated 22nd May, 2025, in which the stand of the IBA and its members has been recorded. Mr. Gautam, ld. Counsel for IBA, is at pains to clarify that the IBA is only a voluntary society of banks. The said affidavit is taken on record.
Mr. Srinivas Rao, Advisor to IBA is also present online through video conferencing and submits that an advisory has been issued to all member banks of the IBA to strictly comply with the circulars and instructions issued by the Reserve Bank of India, including the ones considered by the Court, in the present proceedings.
Directions in the suits
On the last date of hearing i.e., 7th February, 2025, in respect of the suits the Court had directed the parties to submit the following:
“22.Ld. Counsel for the Plaintiffs shall place one comprehensive compilation on record giving the following details:
(i)a list of all the domain names in each of the suits against which injunctions are being sought;
(ii)a table reflecting as to who are the Registrars and the Registries of the respective domain names against which injunctions have been sought in each suit.”
23.In addition, the Plaintiffs shall also place on record, the list of all the pending I.A.s in each of the suits with the reliefs sought in the said applications.
24.The Plaintiffs have collectively suggested ld. Counsels Mr. Prajjwal Kushwaha (Mob. 7791065506) and Mr. Achyut Tewari (Mob. 8604633867) to act as nodal counsels for placing on record the above compilation along with the list of pending IAs.”
Today, the ld. Nodal Counsels have handed over a table and a list, as per the directions on the last date, with copies having been served to ld. Counsel for the Defendants.
The ld. Counsels for the parties are directed to peruse the said table and list, to ensure that all IAs and details as sought by the Court on the last date are mentioned in the said chart. The ld. Counsels for the parties shall inform the ld. Nodal Counsels of any additions, modifications etc., required in the said documents, one day before the next date of hearing.
The ld. Nodal Counsels shall submit an updated copy of the said table and list on the next date of hearing.
It is noted that over a large number of hearings, submissions have been made by various parties, including on behalf of:
Plaintiff’s Counsels;
Submissions by various Domain Name Registrars;
Submissions on behalf of the Domain Name Registries such as Verisign, NIXI, Registry Services LLC, etc;
Submissions by ICANN;
Submissions on behalf of various banks, including the RBI and the IBA;
Submissions on behalf of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology/Department of Telecommunications.
In order to assist the Court in deciding these matters in an efficient manner, let the parties place an electronic copy of the written submissions which they wish to rely upon along with the relevant documents including judgements, as a separate convenience compilation for each matter.
The same shall be placed on record in two common pen drives, one for the Plaintiffs and another for the Defendants, by the ld. Nodal Counsels. Let the parties provide their respective convenience compilations to the ld. Nodal Counsel for the same.
Let the said pen drive be submitted by the ld. Nodal Counsels on the next date of hearing.
List these matters for hearing on 31st May, 2025 at 11:00 a.m.