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2025 Supreme(Online)(Del) 4266
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Jyoti Singh, J
CENTRAL ELECTRONICS LIMITED – Appellant
Versus
LIVE MEDIA & PUBLISHERS PVT. LTD. – Respondent
CS(OS) 231/2017
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Mr. Shubhendu Bhattacharyya
For the Respondents: Mr. Pranav Sachdeva, Mr. P. Rohit Ram, Mr. Sanyam Jain, Mr. Abhay Nair
The court upheld the validity of a settlement agreement allowing a Plaintiff to withdraw allegations and delete themselves from a suit under CPC provisions.
Headnote:(A) Civil Procedure Code, 1908 - Order XXIII Rule 3 - Settlement Agreement - Parties entered into a Settlement Agreement resolving inter se disputes, leading to withdrawal of certain allegations and deletion of Plaintiff from the suit - The Defendants unconditionally apologize for harm and agree to withdraw defamatory articles. (Paras 5, 6, 7)
(B) Application - Nature of application under Order XXIII Rule 3 CPC seeks the court's approval on the terms of the settlement - The Plaintiff’s consent and absence of objection permits amendment to the array of parties and acknowledgement of settlement. (Paras 1, 3, 6)
Facts of the case:
The suit was initiated seeking a permanent injunction against publication of defamatory articles. Upon settlement, Plaintiff No. 2 was permitted to withdraw from both the current and a related suit.
Findings of Court:
The settlement initiated withdrawal of allegations and removal of the Plaintiff from the array of parties, recognizing resolution through voluntary agreement.
Issues: The main issues pertained to approval of the settlement agreement and the legal implications of withdrawing allegations made in the suit.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that upon executing a valid settlement agreement, the parties are no longer in dispute, justifying the withdrawal and deletion of Plaintiff from the suit based on consensus and agreement.
Result: Application allowed and disposed of.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. application for recording settlement agreement. (Para 1 , 2) |
| 2. withdrawal of allegations and deletion of plaintiff from suit. (Para 4 , 5) |
| 3. court's approval of settlement agreement leading to case closure. (Para 6 , 7 , 8) |
O R D E R
% 18.07.2025 I.A. 16895/2025
1. This application is filed on behalf of the Defendants under Order XXIII Rule 3 CPC for taking on record the Settlement Agreement executed and signed between Plaintiff No. 2 and Defendants on 21.02.2025 and to delete Plaintiff No. 2 from the array of the parties. Along with copy of the application, Settlement Agreement is also appended.
2. Issue notice.
3. Mr. Shubhendu Bhattacharyya, learned counsel accepts notice on behalf of the Plaintiffs and has no objection to the application being allowed qua Plaintiff No. 2.
4. Plaintiffs instituted this suit inter alia seeking permanent injunction against the Defendants from publishing, circulating or propagating either physically or digitally defamatory article published in February, 2017 issue.
CS(OS) 231/2017 Page 1 of 3 During the pendency of the suit, Plaintiff No. 2 and Defendants have amicably resolved their inter se disputes on 25.02.2025 and Settlement Agreement has been executed on the said date, copy of which is placed on record.
5. In terms of the settlement recorded in the Agreement, Plaintiff No. 2 has agreed to withdraw herself from the present suit as also another suit being CS(OS) No. 31/2018. Terms of settlement are extracted hereunder, for ease of reference:-
“NOW THIS SETTLEMENT DEED WITNESSETH AS UNDER:
I. The Second Party unconditionally withdraws all the allegations made against the First Party and tenders unconditional apology for harm caused to the First Party. However, this is without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the Second Party and Central Electronics Ltd (CEL) in the pending court cases and may not be seen as any comment on the stand of the Second Party and CEL with respect to each other.
II. The Second Party agrees to immediately withdraw the above two articles/stories mentioned above and any other articles, that may have a mention of the First Party, whether or not such an article may mention Central Electronics Ltd., whether published in print, online, or any other medium, and to take all necessary steps to ensure their removal from public access, including but not limited to, deletion from any online platforms or publications where they were previously published.
III. The Second Party further agrees that neither of its constituents, Live Media Publishers Private Limited, Anil Kumar, Dr. Rashmi Singh, or their successor companies/ entities or the individual constituents, while being a part of Second Party - Constituent No. 1 or while working in any other company /organisation or in any other capacity, shall or shall cause to be publish, distribute, or disseminate any articles, reports, or content of any kind concerning the First Party, in reference to his tenure in Central Electronics Ltd. or any other organisation or otherwise or about him personally or allude to him, in the. future, whether directly or indirectly, without the express written consent of the First Party.
IV. The First Party agrees to withdraw himself as a plaintiff from the above mentioned suits, viz CS (OS) 231 of 2017 and CS (OS) 31 of 2018 pending before the Delhi High Court, and authorises its counsel to file amended memo of parties in the said suits after deleting his name as a plaintiff.
CS(OS) 231/2017 Page 2 of 3 V. The First Party hereinafter agrees to file an Application under Order 23 Rule 3 of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908 , to obtain a compromise decree in view of the Settlement entered into with relation to the suits pending before the Hon’ble High Court if so required.
VI. The First Party would also withdraw the Criminal Cases, against the Second Party, filed by it and pending before Patiala House Courts, New Delhi and Ghaziabad District Court as detailed above, or any other proceeding. The
