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28 February 2014
Litigation

Economic Laws Practice (ELP) won for Bharti Airtel, PDS Legal for Ernst & Young (E&Y), Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan (LKS) for Ultratech Concrete, and Global Legal Associates for ITC Welcome Group in the Delhi high court on Tuesday against the Service Tax Department.

22 October 2013
Litigation

The proposed takeover by Gurgaon-based Apollo Tyres of Ohio-based Cooper Tire & Rubber remained on tenterhooks, as the US company’s bid in a Delaware court to force the deal to close continued unresolved.

Amarchand Mangaldas Delhi and Sullivan Cromwell represented Apollo on the M&A deal, as reported by Legally India in June, with Jones Day having represented Cooper.

Cooper claimed that Apollo was trying to back out of the deal after union and industrial action in the US and China, reported Bloomberg, and that the Indian company agreed that it would use its reasonable best efforts to complete the deal or pay $112.5m in “reverse breakup fees”.

Apollo’s US lawyers wanted Cooper’s case to force a closing thrown out, and claimed in a letter to the court on October 18 that closing conditions to the deal had not been satisfied.

The deal, if completed, would be the largest takeover of an automobile-parts company since 2007.

08 August 2013
Litigation

Cherie Booth QCThe London Court of International Arbitration’s (LCIA) Indian subsidiary resolved real estate giant Hiranandani Group’s family business dispute yesterday after over two-and-a-half years of arbitration.

02 July 2013
Litigation

PnA Law Offices advised engineering Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) candidate Arnav Ohri in challenging the government assessment process, introduced by Kapil Sibal, for admission to undergraduate engineering programmes in top Indian institutes including the IITs and the NITs.

13 June 2013
Litigation

tgbsb4bgSeth Dua & Associates advised Chinese telco ZTE Corporation in filing a winding up petition against Indian phone service provider Loop Mobile in the Bombay high court

30 October 2012
Litigation

LexCounsel with Hariani & Co and Bachubhai Munim & Co advised television news channel Zee News and its executives in its Rs 150 crore defamation cross-claim filed in the Bombay high court against congress MP and Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) owner Naveen Jindal.

Jindal was advised by Khaitan & Co in his Rs 200 crore defamation suit filed in the high court on Thursday against the news channel.

05 October 2012
Litigation

Amarchand Mangaldas and senior counsel Gopal Subramanium acted for YSR Congress party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to whom the Supreme Court today denied bail in the money-laundering case against him.

31 July 2012
Litigation

Gutka_vendor_in_India ALMT Legal won a stay on the Maharashtra state government’s order to destroy the gutka and paan masala siezed from tobacco major Ghodawat Pan Masala Products (Ghodawat) and five other gutka makers, in the Bombay high court yesterday.

28 June 2012
Litigation

Breaking: Fox Mandal advised nine international cricketers who yesterday filed in the Bombay high court to liquidate ALMT Legal-advised Essel Sports (ESPL), the sports-entertainment wing of business conglomerate Essel Group.

15 June 2012
Litigation

PiratesBreaking: Following the recent trend set by the Delhi high court since 2011, the Bombay high court passed its first ex parte, unconditional “John Doe” order to pre-emptively ban the piracy of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures film Gangs of Wasseypur, said the company’s lawyers Naik Naik & Co.

14 March 2012
Litigation

MCX-SX might get wider trading future The Bombay High Court has today ruled in favour of MCX Stock Exchange (MCX-SX), represented by J Sagar Associates (JSA) and Naik Naik & Co, against the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) decision to prevent MCX from trading in derivatives and other products.

02 December 2011
Litigation

Dirty but not a 'formal biopic'Exclusive: The Andhra Pradesh writ petition filed by the brother of late South Indian actress Silk Smitha against the movie loosely inspired by her life, The Dirty Picture, has been dismissed in favour of the movie’s producer Balaji Motion Pictures, represented by Naik Naik & Co, and the Censor Board, represented by Verus Advocates recently joined Hyderabad partner.

14 September 2011
Litigation

imageNaik Naik & Co has represented Bollywood actor Imran Khan and a student in their Bombay High Court writ petition challenging Maharashtra’s increase of the minimum drinking age to 25 years.

23 August 2011
Litigation

Naik Naik & Co has succeeded in challenging the three states’ orders banning the film Aarakshan before the Supreme Court, following an earlier favourable order before the Bombay High Court.

Naik Naik & Co partner Madhu Gadodia summarised the case before the Supreme Court:

Prakash Jha Productions and Mr. Prakash Jha (“Petitioners”) filed a petition in the Hon’ble Supreme Court under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, challenging the orders passed by State of Uttar Pradesh, State of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh (collectively “Respondents”) suspending the exhibition of the film “Aarakshan” (“Film”) in their respective territories for a certain period. While the State of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh subsequently revoked their orders of suspension, the State of Uttar Pradesh continued the ban / suspension by their order dated 10th August, 2011.

The state of Uttar Pradesh had passed the suspension order in accordance with Section 6 (1) of the UP Cinemas (Regulation) Act which entitles the State Government to suspend the exhibition of a film which is being exhibited for a period of two films if there is reasonable likelihood / apprehension of breach of public order. The Petitioners therefore filed the petition seeking the relief in terms of striking down section 6 (1) of the UP Cinemas (Regulation) Act, the same being ultra vires the Constitution. The Petitioners also sought setting aside the decision taken by the Respondents prohibiting the screening of the Film in their respective states for a specified period.

Notices were issued to all Respondents and the matter was placed for hearing today. Counsel Mr. Harish Salve and Mr. Ameet Naik appeared for the Petitioners. Counsel Mr. A.S Chandiok appeared for Union of India and Counsel Mr. Uday Lalit appeared for State of UP. The matter was argued at length. The Hon’ble Court observed that since the states of Punjab and Andhra Pradesh had withdrawn the suspension orders and the Film is being exhibited in these two states, the petition is infructuous as far as these two states are concerned.

Mr. Salve and Mr. Naik submitted that the exercise of power by the State Govt. of UP to suspend the exhibition of the Film in UP amounts to pre-censorship of the Film which is the responsibility of Central Board of Film Certification (“Censor Board”), the statutory body constituted under the Cinematograph Act for the said purpose. In the present case, the State Govt. of UP has in the Impugned order cited several scenes of the Film which are objectionable in their view and which are required to be deleted as a pre-condition for exhibition of the Film. Therefore, the power sought to be exercised by the State Government under Section 6 (1) of the Uttar Pradesh (Cinemas) Regulation Act (“UP Act”) in the present case is without jurisdiction.

The scheme of the said section is to temporarily suspend the exhibition of a film to enable the State Government to make appropriate arrangements to deal with and maintain the law and order situation. The said section does not empower the State Govt. to step into the shoes of Censor Board and make decision / suggestion regarding the content of the Film as in the present case. Moreover, the provision of Section 6 (1) of the UP Act is to be exercised only when a film is “being publicly exhibited” and there is apprehension of breach of public order. In the present case, the Film was not publicly exhibited until the date of the Impugned order i.e 10th August, 2011 (Film was scheduled for release on 126th August, 2011).

Therefore, the question of State Govt. exercising its powers under Section 6 (1) of the UP Act did not arise. Mr. Salve also relied upon judgments of Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of S. Rangarajan vs. P Jagjevan Ram & Ors. and Union of India & Ors. vs. P. Jagjivan Ram & Ors and Sankarappa and Bombay High Court in the case of Kamal Khan vs. State of Maharashtra holding that the fundamental freedom under Article 19 (1) (a) can be reasonably restricted only for the purposes mentioned in Article 19(2) and the restriction must be justified on the anvil of necessity and not on the quicksand of convenience or expediency.

Freedom of expression which is legitimate and constitutionally protected, cannot be held to ransom by an intolerant group of people. Open criticism of Government policies and operations is not a ground for restricting expression. We must practice tolerance to the views of others. Intolerance is as much dangerous to democracy as to the person himself.

Mr. Chandiok appearing for the Union of India supported the contentions of the Petitioners and submitted that once a film was certified for public exhibition by the Censor Board, the State Governments are not empowered to interfere with the exhibition of the Film.

Mr. Lalit appearing for State of UP submitted that the State Govt. had suspended the exhibition of the Film in accordance with Section 6(1) of the UP Act since there was likelihood of breach of public order and the same was the basis of such apprehensions were certain press reports. He also submitted that the Film was viewed by a committee of experts constituted by the State Govt. of UP and apprehended to cause breach of public order.

Upon hearing the parties at length, the Hon’ble Court observed that admittedly, the Film was certified for public exhibition by the Censor Board who had also constituted a special committee comprising of persons from SC, ST and OBC. The certification was granted in accordance with the provisions of Cinematograph Act and Rules and Guildelines thereunder. Pursuant to certification, the Film is being exhibited in various parts of India without any problem of law and order.

Moreover, the Hon’ble court observed that the term “being publicly exhibited” in section 6 of the UP Act pre-supposes “exhibition” of the film. Such power cannot be exercised in respect of a film which is yet to be exhibited. “Suspension” envisages that which is functional / running. Therefore the UP Govt. ought not to have exercised their powers under Section 6 (1) of the UP Act for a film that was not being exhibited. The decision taken at that stage cannot envisage future exhibition. The Hon’ble Court also observed that the apprehensions of UP Govt. don’t hold substance in view of the fact that the Film is being exhibited in other states, which are also sensitive states, without any difficulty.

The court further observed that reservation in addition to being a sensitive issue is also a social issue and in a vibrant democracy like ours, such discussion on social issues bring in awareness which is required for effective working of our democracy. Infact, when there is dissent on such issues an informed decision can be taken which is necessary at this stage. The Hon’ble Court upheld the observations in the case of Sankarappa and Rangarajan case and held that the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19 (1) (a) cannot be taken for granted and once the Censor Board has certified the film for public exhibition, it is not open for the State Governments to perform the role of pre-censorship.

In the above background, the Hon’ble Supreme Court allowed the petition to the extent of challenge to the suspension orders passed by the State of UP and set aside / quashed the order dated 10th August, 2011 passed by the UP Govt. suspending the exhibition of the Film for a period of two months in the State of UP. The order was dictated in open court. Therefore, as per the order the Film can be released in the state of UP with immediate effect without any obstruction.

11 August 2011
Litigation

image Naik Naik & Co represented the producers of the Amitabh Bachchan starrer Aarakshan (reservation) and successfully persuaded the Bombay High Court not to stay the release of the film, which has been attracting controversy for its purported anti-reservation message.