1. This is a petition under Section 24 of the Civil Procedure Code, seeking a direction for withdrawal of the suit titled "M/s Escorts Construction Equipment Ltd v. M/s Gautam Engineering Company and anr", from the court of 1st Additional District Judge, Jammu, and transferring the same to this Court.

2. Petitioner filed a civil suit above titled before the court of learned Principal District Judge, Jammu, for permanent prohibitory injunction restraining the respondent-defendants from manufacturing and marketing the cranes and any other product amounting to petitioners Patent No. 227332. Injunction was also sought restraining the respondents from manufacturing and marketing the Cranes or any other product amounting to passing of and infringement of petitioners Design No. 194428. Direction was also sought to respondents for delivery of all the impugned designs and products including all broachers, literature, stationery, boards, hoardings, banners etc to the petitioner for destruction of the same and for rendition of accounts of respondents for ascertaining the profits alleged to have illegally earned by the respondents and also for money decree of such profits. Along with the suit, an application seeking ad-interim injunction was also filed. The learned District Judge, Jammu, transferred the suit to the court of 1st Additional District Judge, Jammu, for adjudication.

3. When the matter was taken up on 14th of Jan09, the court below passed an exparte ad-interim injunction to the following effect: -

"..............The defendants/non applicants are temporarily restrained from using/ imitating and applying the products and products design/drawings, the details of which is given above in the order for which the plaintiff company has been granted Copyright registration Nos. A-83278/2008, A-83280/2008, A-83281/2008, A-83284/2008, A-83285/2008, used in cranes Hydra-12 and Hydra-14, which have been issued by statutory authorities in favour of the plaintiff........"

4. On receipt of the notice, respondents appeared and filed written statement and response to the main suit as also the application for ad-interim injunction.

5. After the filing of the written statement by the respondents, the petitioner filed an application under Section 22(4) of the Designs Act, 2000, (here-in-after referred to as the Act of 2000), before the court below for transferring the suit to this court. To the said application, objections came to be filed by the respondents also.

6. As no indulgence was shown by the court below after the filing of the above application in terms of Section 22(4) of the aforementioned Act, the present petition, as indicated above has been filed for transferring of the suit from the court of 1st Additional District Judge, Jammu, to this court.

7. Mr. Bansal, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that under Section 19 of the Act of 2000, any person interested may present a petition for cancellation of the registration of a design at any time after its registration to the Controller on any of the grounds as mentioned in the aforementioned Section.

8. It was further submitted that under sub clause (3) of Section 22 of the Act of 2000, in any suit or any other proceeding for relief under sub Section (2), every ground on which the registration of a design may be cancelled under section19 is available as a ground of defence. It was stated that when the respondents have filed the written statement and taken the defence as mentioned in Section 19 of the Act of 2000, then, the court below has no power to try the suit and the same has to be transferred to this court.

9. Mr. Sunil Sethi, learned Senior counsel, appearing for respondents submitted that as the machinery is neither being manufactured nor sold in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the court below has no territorial jurisdiction to entertain and adjudicate upon the subject matter of dispute. In support of his submission, reliance is being placed on a judgment of the Apex Court reported a

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