The Delhi High Court has banned a website which was illegally using the “Khadi Organic” name to openly promote its website as an “official website for sale of Ayodhya Ram Mandir prasad” on various platforms, such as Instagram.
“It appears that Defendants No. 1 and 2 (owners of the website) are attempting to monopolise the consecration event by preying on the public’s religious beliefs and devotion and deceiving them into transferring money to Defendants No. 1 and 2, using the Plaintiff’s (Khadi India) goodwill,” Justice Sanjeev Narula said in an order passed on January 18.
As per the information hosted on the homepage of the “Khadi Organic” website, members of the public, who are desirous of obtaining the “Ram Mandir Prasad” for free, could place their orders by filling a form provided on the website. For such delivery, a charge of ₹51 for Indian customers, and ₹11 for foreign customers, is sought.
The court took note of the fact that several customers had posted videos and reels on Instagram referring to Defendant No. 1, Ashish Singh, who established the brand “KHADI ORGANIC”, free ‘prasad’ service as a scam.
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No tracking receipt
According to the customer’s account, the company was taking money towards delivery charge for the ‘prasad’, but are not furnishing any tracking receipt for confirmation.
In view of the allegations, on January 14, 2024, Mr. Singh hosted a live session on Khadi Organic’s YouTube channel under the name “We are not fake Q&A Sessions at 11:00 A.M”.
Here he clarified that this was a private initiative and was not overseen by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Mr. Singh further stated that till January 14, nearly 20 lakh orders had been received by him.
On the other hand, Khadi India said that in January it came across a reel posted on Instagram advertising a website “www.khadiorganic.com” for delivery of free ‘prasad’ from the Pran Pratishta ceremony scheduled to be held on January 22, at the Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.
Ms. Shwetasree Majumder, appearing for Khadi India, stated that Khadi and Village Industries Commission, was a statutory body established under the Khadi and Village Industries Commission Act, 1956 for the promotion and development of textiles.
Ms. Majumder stated that Khadi India adopted the trademark “KHADI” on September 25, 1956 and had been continuously using the same for their products ever since.
Taking note of the submission, Justice Narela said the defendants had no right to misappropriate Khadi India’s registered ‘KHADI’ marks and to render a false impression that it was affiliated with the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust organising the consecration ceremony.
The court directed the suspension of the operation of the domain name “www.khadiorganic.com” and to maintain status quo with regards to the ownership of the domain name till further orders.
It also restrained Mr. Singh and any person acting on his behalf from manufacturing, selling, offering for sale, exporting, advertising, directly or indirectly, any kind of goods or services under the marks “KHADI ORGANIC”.
