S K DUTT Vs. LAW BOOK CO

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SRI S. K. Dutt, an advocate practising in this Court, has filed this suit purporting to be one under Section 13, Copyright Act, 1914. The plaintiff alleges that he is the author and sole owner of the copyright in the work entitled "the Indian Partnership Act by Mukerji and Dutt". This work, the plaintiff alleges, he published in the year 1934 in collaboration with Sir Manmotho nath Mukerji, an ex-Chief Justice of the High Court at Calcutta and an ex-Law Member of the government of India. The plaintiff further alleges that the aforementioned book--the Law of Partnership in India--has earned a great reputation and it has had sales in the United States of America, in England and practically throughout this country. The plaintiff's case further is that defendant No. 2, namely, j. N. Bagga, published a work entitled "law Book Company's Commentaries of Law and Practice of Partnership and Private Companies in India" in the year 1947. This rival publication, according to the plaintiff, contained numerous passages which had been pirated from the plaintiff's work. The said rival publication purports to be written by K. L. Gauba, Barrister-at-law, defendant No. 3, H. D. Suri, B. A. ,ll. B. , defendant No. 5, and S. K. lyer, B. A. . B. L. , defendant No. 4; the Law book Company defendant No. 1, are the publishers of this work while defendant No. 2 is said to have had the book published for defendant No. 1, that is the Law Book Company. This book was published by the Law Book Company when it existed at Lahore. It may be noticed that the present location of this Company is at Allahabad.

(2.) THE plaintiff's case further is that the defendants wrongfully infringed his copyright and that they did not refrain from discontinuing the sale of the infringed book even after notice had been served on them calling upon them to desist from such unlawful activity.

(3.) THE plaintiff alleges that he got knowledge of his copyright having been infringed by the rival publication sometime in July 1948. By the suit the plaintiff has claimed the following reliefs: