YouTuber Mohak Mangal has approached the Delhi High Court seeking transfer of a copyright and trademark infringement suit filed against him by Asian News International (ANI) from the Patiala House Court to the High Court.
The plea came up for hearing before Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani, who questioned the maintainability of the petition, observing that jurisdiction over such transfer applications may lie with a Division Bench under the Commercial Courts Act.
“Jurisdiction issue. Can I even entertain this?... You (Mangal) are asking that the Patiala House suit be brought here but you’ve to go before a DB,” Justice Bhambhani remarked.
Appearing for ANI, Advocate Siddhant Kumar referred to Section 15(5) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, arguing that the matter must be placed before the commercial appellate division of the High Court. He contended that the transfer petition was not maintainable before a single judge.
Kumar also pointed out that the suit before the Patiala House Court involves a distinct cause of action, alleging copyright and trademark infringement based on 10 separate videos, while the High Court suit concerns defamation and disparagement relating only to one specific video titled “Dear ANI.”
On the other hand, Advocate Nakul Gandhi, representing Mangal, argued that six out of the ten videos cited in the district court proceedings were already the subject of the earlier suit filed by ANI before the High Court. He emphasized that the alleged trademark violations in both suits arise from identical marks and therefore, merit consolidated adjudication.
Given the jurisdictional concerns raised, Justice Bhambhani directed Mangal's counsel to place on record relevant judicial decisions to support the maintainability of the transfer petition before a single bench.
The matter has now been renotified for July 16.
ANI initially filed a defamation, disparagement, and trademark infringement suit before the Delhi High Court against Mangal, comedian Kunal Kamra, AltNews co-founder Mohammed Zubair, and unnamed entities, alleging that they shared the “Dear ANI” video on X (formerly Twitter), thereby amplifying defamatory content.
On May 29, Mangal agreed to take down certain objectionable segments from his YouTube video pursuant to objections raised by ANI.
Subsequently, on June 2, ANI filed a separate suit before the Patiala House Court, targeting ten videos posted by Mangal for copyright and trademark infringement.
In his transfer plea, Mangal has asserted that a substantial overlap exists between the subject matter of both suits, and hence, judicial economy and consistency require that the suits be heard together by the High Court.
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