Pay Rs 2 crores to Pfizer or go to jail: Delhi High Court directs Triveni Interchem Private limited
Defendants are liable for Contempt of Court under Order XXXIX Rule 2A of CPC as even after previous order they were engaged in selling, distributing and advertising of Palbociclib, a medication for breast cancer by Pfizer, court noted.
Recently, the Delhi High Court directed Triveni Interchem Private limited through his director Kamlesh Singh to pay Rs. 2 crores to Pfizer over the matter of patent infringement and for Contempt of Court for not following the order of Hon’ble Court in previous order passed by the Court.
Justice C Hari Shankar while going through the affidavit submitted by the defendant observed that he was advertising Palociclib for sale on his website as well as on third party websites which is contrary to basic principles of trade.
Pfizer had filed an application against the defendants before the court and by the order dated 21st October 2021, the defendants were asked to restrain themselves from either making, selling, distributing, advertising, exporting or importing, also to remove anything related to the medication from there as well as from third party websites.
They were also directed to Triveni Interchem Private limited and to remove any references as well to the products claimed under the subject matter of the suit patent IN 218291 from their websites.
By the order dated 7th July 2022 found that the defendants were still indulging in the selling of Palbociclib in new packaging. After that defendants filed an affidavit stating that they had removed the products from the internet, and that submission was clearly false as observed by the Court.
Further, the judge said that Defendant No. 1 had absolutely no regard for the truth. "It appears that, with stark impunity, Defendant No. 1 is resorting to misstatement after misstatement before this Court", the court said.
Prima facie, therefore, the Court is of the view that the defendant, who has already been found guilty of wilful and contumacious disobedience, against which the defendant has not preferred any appellate or other remedies, is also unwilling to come clean before this Court or to disclose to this Court the amount of Palbociclib in which it has dealt, court held.
The Court found the defendant to be guilty of Contempt of court under Order XXXIX Rule 2A of CPC and accordingly disposes of the application by directing the defendant through his director to pay Rs. 2 crores within a period of two weeks. Failing to which he shall be detained for two weeks in a civil prison at Tihar Jail, Delhi, court ordered.
The matter is to be heard next on 16th March.
Statue: Civil Procedure Code, 1908