P.C:

1. Mr. Lohia Learned Counsel appearing on behalf of the Applicant/Plaintiff, at the outset pointed out that the Defendants though served, have today not appeared. He undertakes to file an Affidavit of Service in the Registry of this Court within a period of one week from today. He thus presses the Interim Application for ad interim reliefs.

2. Mr. Lohia submits that the Applicant/Plaintiff has filed the captioned Commercial IP Suit inter alia seeking protection of her personality rights, which would include within its scope the Applicant/Plaintiff’s name, voice, signatures, photographs, images, and caricatures of the Applicant/Plaintiff as also various other attributes of the Applicant/Plaintiff’s personality rights against unauthorised/unlicensed use and/or commercial exploitation. Additionally he points out that the Suit also pertains to the violation of the Applicant/Plaintiff's moral rights, which vest in the Applicant/Plaintiff in respect of her performances as conferred upon the Applicant/Plaintiff by virtue of Section 38-B of the Copyright Act, 1957.

3. Mr. Lohia then invited my attention to the Plaint, to point out that the Applicant/Plaintiff is an eminent and well-known personality in the field of music and has played an integral part in the Indian music/entertainment industry for over seven decades. Mr. Lohia pointed out that the Applicant/Plaintiff enjoys immense respect, prestige and goodwill both nationally and internationally and has a staggering repertoire of songs comprising various different genres, including film music, pop, ghazals, classical music, devotional songs, etc. He then invited my attention to Exhibit A to the Plaint which sets out the songs sung by the Applicant/Plaintiff.

4. Mr. Lohia then also invited my attention to paragraph 18 of the Plaint and pointed out therefore that the Applicant/Plaintiff has won and/or been conferred with the following accolades and awards, both National and International :

(i) Two National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer; Dadasaheb Phalke Award, India’s highest honour in cinema (2000); BBC Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the then UK Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair (2002);

(ii) International Indian Film Academy Lifetime Achievement Award (2002).

(iii) Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest Civilian Award (2008);

(iv) 9 Filmfare Awards (including a Lifetime Achievement Award and a record 7 Awards for Best Female Playback Singer);

(v) Guinness Book of World Records (recognized in 2011 as the “Most Recorded Artist” in music history);

(v) Grammy Nominations (2 nominations); and numerous State awards, including the Maharashtra Bhushan Award in 2021.

5. Mr. Lohia has further pointed out that the Applicant/Plaintiff’s social media accounts on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and YouTube show the Applicant/Plaintiff's following to be 7,46,000 on Instagram, 8,80,000 on Facebook, 46,00,000 on X (formerly known as Twitter) and 2,85,000 fon YouTube respectively. He submits that such a vast following on diverse social media platforms is itself a testament to the enormous reputation and goodwill accumulated by the Applicant/Plaintiff. The screenshots / extracts / pages from the social media platforms of the Applicant/Plaintiff are annexed at Exhibit “B” of the Plaint.

6. Mr. Lohia then invited my attention to paragraphs 23 to 30 of the plaint to point out that the same in detail set out how the Applicant/Plaintiff’s personality rights have come to be exclusively associated with Applicant/Plaintiff, and (a) the Plaintiff’s name; (b) the Plaintiff’s voice / vocal style and technique / vocal arrangements and interpretations;(c) the Plaintiff's mannerism / manner of singing;(d) the Plaintiff’s image / photograph / caricature and her likeness; and (e) the Plaintiff’s signature.

7. In the aforesaid backdrop, Mr. Lohia has submitted that the Applicant/Plaintiff holds the right to command and control the use of all