Delhi HC orders Centre to block websites pretending as Croma recruiters

The Delhi High Court recently ordered that all the infringing websites posing as recruiters at Croma and defrauding people by taking money should be blocked. Croma is a Tata-owned electronics retail store chain.

Justice Sanjeev Narula directed the Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to block access to the impugned websites during the pendency of the proceedings. www.cromashare.com, www.croma- 2.com, www.croma-1.com, and www.croma-3.com, are some of the websites infringing Croma's trademark.

The court also sought registration details like contact information, payment details, and any other information related to the identity of registrants of impugned websites from the domain name registrar.

The plaintiff Infiniti Retail Limited, who is the owner of the retail stores, had filed a suit seeking permanent injunction restraining infringement of its registered trademark and copyright. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group.

The fraudsters duped the unsuspecting consumers through WhatsApp offering them jobs at Croma, the petitioner's counsel told the court. "The consumers, who fall prey to this scam, are made to transfer money to bank accounts/ UPI IDs provided by said defendants," it was submitted.

The court was further told that victims have lost as much as Rs 1,65,000 to the fraud. "Due to continued usage of Plaintiff's registered marks and name and forged signatures of its CEO viz. Mr. Avijit Mishra by Defendants No. 1 to 4 for commission of fraud, Plaintiff is suffering loss of goodwill," the counsel said.

Justice Narula while granting an ex-parte injunction to the plaintiff, said the court is of the prima facie opinion that the defendants have infringed the plaintiff's registered marks.

"Plaintiff has gathered substantial goodwill and reputation in the market and has generated considerable revenue through its business operations in India. Plaintiff's registered marks are well-known marks and if no ex-parte interim injunction is granted, Plaintiff will suffer an irreparable loss; balance of convenience also lies in favour of the Plaintiff and against Defendants No. 1 to 4," the court said.

While directing the telecom service providers to temporarily suspend and disable the mobile numbers mentioned in the plaint and disclose their identity details, it further ordered the financial service providers to temporarily suspend and disable the UPI IDs mentioned in the plaint.

The court also asked the defendants to restrain using or registering infringing domain names anywhere or indulge in any activity resulting in infringement of Plaintiff's registered marks and its copyright till the next date of hearing, which is on March 27, 2023.