ANIRUDDHA BOSE, J. - (1.) The present proceeding arises out of a case instituted by the respondents, Sabu Trade Private Limited invoking jurisdiction of the Court of Judicial Magistrate No. IV, Salem (the Salem Court) under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. By filing the present application under Section 406 of the 1973 Code, the petitioner wants the case to be transferred to the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Patiala House Court, New Delhi. The allegation of the respondents in the said case is over use of the trade mark SACHAMOTI in respect of sago or sabudana by Rajkumar Sabu (the petitioner). According to the respondents, such use is illegal and unauthorised. The Respondents claim proprietary right over the said trade mark. The complaint was instituted on 22nd May, 2017. The Judicial Magistrate, Salem (Salem Court in short), had required the police authorities to conduct a thorough enquiry with regard to genuineness of the private complaint and a report was filed by the concerned Inspector of Police. The case was registered as CC No. 82/2018 on 5th April, 2018. The Judicial Magistrate took cognizance of the alleged offences under Sections 420 of the Indian Penal Code and 103 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and issued summons to the petitioner. The proceeding before the Court at Salem was instituted by the respondents represented by their Managing Director, Gopal Sabu.
(2.) Allegations were primarily directed against the petitioner in the complaint. But another individual, Shiv Narayan Sabu was also implicated in the proceeding before the Salem Court. The Transfer Petition, however, has been brought by Raj Kumar Sabu alone. Subsequently, an application for intervention has been filed by said Shiv Narayan Sabu. He supports the petitioner's case for transfer. In the intervention application, the grounds on which transfer is sought by the petitioner has been broadly repeated. Said Shiv Narayan Sabu has shown sufficient interest to intervene in this proceeding and I allow his application for intervention. Hence the intervenor's cause shall be dealt simultaneously with the petitioner's case. The intervenor has also alleged that he has been unnecessarily dragged into the dispute. But in this proceeding, that grievance of the intervenor cannot be considered. I am to examine the plea for transfer of the aforesaid criminal case only. Before the Salem Court, examination-in-chief of three prosecution witnesses have been completed on 2nd March 2019, 5th April 2019 and 27th May 2019 (as has been pleaded in the Transfer Petition). Next date was fixed by the Salem Court for appearance of the two accused persons.
(3.) Several proceedings have been instituted over the question of ownership of the trademark SACHAMOTI, and these litigations bear features of a family dispute. The petitioner, intervenor and Gopal Sabu, who appears to be in effective control of the respondents' business are brothers. The businesses of petitioner and the respondent-company also seems to have had association or connection in the past. There was a burst of litigations between the two parties, Raj Kumar and Gopal in substance, in the year 2016. The petitioner filed a suit in the High Court of Delhi on 9th June, 2016 alleging infringement and passing off of the same trade mark by the respondent. He claims to have registration of the subject-trade mark in his favour, on the strength of an assignment from his late mother, Chandrakanta Sabu. The said suit was registered as Civil Suit (Commercial) No. 761 of 2016. Gopal Sabu made complaints to the police authorities at Salem in the months of July and August 2016 seeking action against the petitioner on the allegation of counterfeiting the same brand, referred to in the complaints, inter-alia, as property mark. These complaints were founded also on certain other counts. In the suit instituted in the Delhi High Court, counter claim was lodged by the respondents.;