The acceptance of additional documents post-filing is valid if justified and does not cause prejudice.

O R D E R

Challenging the order allowing an application for receiving an additional documents the defendant is before this Court. The facts are herein below set out.

2. The plaintiff had filed a suit originally on the file of this Court in CS.No.494 of 2016 for the following reliefs:

(i)Injunction to restrain the defendant from offering services and products directly or indirectly competing with any of the plaintiff's services and products till 18 months as committed in his second non compete agreement;

(ii)Injunction to restrain the defendant from taking up employment with any of the plaintiff's direct competitors directly or indirectly till 18 months as committed in his second non compete agreement (iii)Direct the defendant to pay to the plaintiff damages for the breach of contracts dated 27^th december 1995, 22^nd June 2015 and undertaking dated 18^th January

2016 of Rs.40,00,000/- (Rupees Forty Lakhs Only). (iv)Direct the defendant to pay the costs of the suit.

3. The basis on which the suit had been instituted is that the defendant had been appointed as a service engineer in their office at Chennai. At the time of his appointment, the defendant had signed a non compete undertaking cum declaration agreement on 22.06.2015 and another undertaking on 18.01.2016, where it was made clear that for a period of 18 months from the date of the agreement, namely, 22.06.2015 the petitioner will not compete with the company and its subsidiaries and affiliates, etc., to procure orders from or do businesses with any customer of the company.

4. Further, after termination for a period of 18 months the defendant had undertaken not to directly solicit, encourage or induce any other employees of the company to terminate employment with the company and that he would not disclose any confidential information of the company.

5. On 30.06.2006, the agreement was revised in which Clause 3 and 8 were added which reads as follows:

“Clause 3 You are required not to divulge, communicate or pass on any information to any form related to any aspect of the company.

Clause 8 You are required not to engage yourself in any other gainful or commercial employment, business, part – time or full time directly or indirectly simultaneously as long as you are employed with ABS Instruments Pvt. Ltd., or engage yourself directly or indirectly in any other activities of the company in any way.”

6. The plaintiff would submit that on 29.04.2015, the defendant had submitted his resignation letter notifying his resignation from the position of Manager Technical.

7. The plaintiff's case is that after leaving the services of the plaintiff the defendant has been collecting orders from the plaintiff's clients. He had also started his business in the name and style of RV Testing Machines. It had come to the notice of the plaintiff that the defendant has been contacting the plaintiff's customers, suppliers and employees under this name and had collected orders from big clients of the plaintiff. Since there was a breach of the terms of the contract of employment as well as non compete undertaking cum declaration agreement dated 22.06.2015, the plaintiff was constrained to issue a legal notice dated 31.08.2015 to the defendant to cease the above activities.

8. A reply was issued on 05.10.2015 by the defendant in which he does not deny the statement made by the plaintiff. Therefore, the plaintiff had come forward with the suit in question.

9. The suit was filed on 13.04.2016 before this Court and thereafter transferred to the file of the City Civil Court and numbered as OS.No.5291 of 2019 on the file of the XV Additional City Civil Court, Chennai.

10. The defend