GALGOTIA BOOKSOURCE Vs. NATIONAL COMPUTING CENTRE LTD. AND ANR.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this order I propose to dispose of I.A. No. 5399 of 1986 in Suit No. 2042 of 1986 filed by the plaintiff, M/s. Galgotia Booksource against defendant No. 1, The National Computing Centre Ltd. and defendant No. 2. M/s. Bookman Associates (I) under Order 39 rules 1 and 2 read with Sec. 151 C.P.C. for grant of ad-interim injunction to restrain the defendants, their agents, employees, associates and the persons working on their behalf from reprinting/ publishing and/or selling or otherwise taking such steps to reprint/publish or sell the aforesaid books throughout India and that they be further restrained from causing any hindrance obstruction in the activities of the plaintiff for reprinting/publishing and/or selling the same in Indian Market till the disposal of the suit. The respective defendants have opposed this application. I have heard the learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the file and after giving my considered thought to the matter before me, I have come to the following findings :

(2.) In order to entitle the plaintiff an ad-interim injunction it is incumbent upon the plaintiff to establish that it has a prima facie case and the balance of convenience is in favour of the plaintiff in grant of ad-interim injunction otherwise irreparable injury would occasion to the plaintiff. In order to establish its prima facie case learned counsel for the plaintiff has taken me through copies of various documents placed on record and has made his submissions in the light thereof.

(3.) It has been contended by the learned counsel for the plaintiff that after negotiations, the defendant No. 1, a copyright-holder of two books in dispute entitled "Introducing System Analysis and Design-Volume I and II, by means of telex dated 19th July, 1982, had permitted the plaintiff to print for the Indian market these books on payment of royalty of £ 100.00 each in advance and on further royalty of 10 per cent on Indian selling price which permission was accepted by the plaintiff vide its telex dated 23rd July, 1982 wherein the plaintiff requested for the supply of one copy each of the books and the said copies were received vide packing list dated 201h July, 1982 and thereafter the plaintiff-firm vide telex dated 23rd July, 1982 requested for certain confirmation regarding the contract which was done by defendant No.1 vide their letters dated 26th July, 1982 and 26th Aug., 1982, Thereafter the plaintiff sent two sale invoices of the value of 100.00 each. It is further contended on behalf of the plaintiff that the plaintiff further negotiated with defendant No. 1 for having re-print rights of other books entitled "Cobol Programing" and "Elements of Basic Introducing Data Processing" and had remitted 500.00 in terms of letter dated 18th Feb., 1984. It is in between that defendant No. 2 as authorised representative of defendant No. 1 is said to have advised defendant No. 1 to send telex to the plaintiff on the terms as staled in the said letter. The plaintiff has made efforts to make the books popular in the Indian market and has spent lakhs of rupees in capturing Indian market, and to enable the plaintiff to send the royalty amount to defendant No. 1, the plaintiff had sent a draft agreement to defendant No. 1 for executing the same but the said agreement was not executed and rather defendant No. 1 has cancelled the entire arrangement in collusion with defendant No. 2 without any right. It has been lastly contended that in these circumstances the agreement is in subsistence and the plaintiff has exclusive rights for reprint and sale of those books in India.