While Commercial Speech Falls Within Free Speech, Contract Prohibit Adverse Remarks: Bombay HC Imposes 90-Day Injunction On Wonderchef's Distributor
Live LawObserving that commercial speech is a part of 'free speech' guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the Bombay High Court imposed a 90-day injunction against an Australia-based distributor of Wonderchef Home Appliances, owned by Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, from making any comments or communications which could harm the reputation of the company, due to a contractual clause preventing. Observing that commercial speech is a part of 'free speech' guaranteed by the Constitution of India, the Bombay High Court imposed a 90-day injunction against an Australia-based distributor of Wonderchef Home Appliances, owned by Celebrity Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, from making any comments or communications which could harm the reputation of the company, due to a contractual clause preventing them from doing so. If the nature of the expression would lead a reasonable person of commerce to conclude that the publicly aired complaints constitute ranting by a disgruntled commercial counter-party, the likelihood of damage would not be easy to infer, the court added, further noting that in the instant case, another international distributor of the company, from Fiji, responded to the respondent distributor that "he is quite happy with the Petitioner's products and advised the Respondent to engage with the Petitioner to resolve disputes." Therefore, to balance the equities, the court imposed a 90-day injunction on the Australian distributor, "bearing in mind that free speech cannot be lightly proscribed."
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