Top 11 Most Intriguing India Related Lawsuits

A sign of an emerging and growing economy is the increase in litigation. You might believe this to be a bad sign but I dispute that belief because a healthy economic environment includes the presence of a fair legal system. I am not suggesting the India legal system is as fair as the UK or the US, but the simple fact that foreigners can file a lawsuit against an Indian company or individual is a good sign. If the Indian courts were as corrupt as some suggest, the cases would be thrown out of the legal system as soon as they were filed. The fact that they are not, suggests to foreigners that they have a fair chance of being heard and thus will feel more comfortable investing in India.

The Lawsuits

11. T-Series vs. Rediff

A lawsuit has been filed against Rediff (NSDQ: REDF).com and Ram Gopal Verma Films Private Ltd. in the Delhi High Court by Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series) for copyright violation. The lawsuit claims Rediff placed video clips of songs from two Hindi Films - Nishabd and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd on their website, of which T-Series claims to own sole copyrights. T-Series is seeking damages amounting to Rs. 20 lakh (around $50,000) from Rediff. This information came from a recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Rediff.

10. India vs. Dow Chemical

India could reach an out-of-court settlement with US giant Dow Chemical to clean up the Bhopal gas disaster site and end liability claims after more than two decades, a report said Monday.

India's law ministry said the move would clear "legal hurdles" to future Dow Chemical investments in India by setting up a fund to clean up thousands of tonnes of contaminated soil along with other measures to resolve long-running lawsuits linked to the disaster, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported.

The government was prompted by Indian industrial conglomerate the Tata Group to pursue a settlement, and Dow Chemical's chief executive wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier this year on the issue, the newspaper said.

Thousands of people were killed on December 3, 1984 when a then Union Carbide plant at Bhopal in central India disgorged 40 tonnes of lethal methyl isocyanate gas in one of the world's worst environmental disasters.

9. City of New York v. Permanent Missions of India and Mongolia

For many years, the City has levied property taxes on portions of foreign missions to the U.N. that are used as residential quarters for embassy personnel. The City is seeking over $16 million in property tax arrears from India and $2 million from Mongolia for floors of their buildings used as residences. The Second Circuit rejected India's claim that it cannot be sued in U.S. courts. The Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act generally precludes lawsuits against foreign governments, but an exception allows suits involving "immovable property."

The matter was argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 24, 2007 by Corporation Counsel, Michael A. Cardozo. The case was handled below by the Affirmative Litigation division.

View the Supreme Court Oral Argument Transcript (in PDF)
View the Law Department's Supreme Court Brief (in PDF)

8. Bhavna Talwar vs. Film Federation of India

India may withdraw its Oscar entry in the foreign-film category because of alleged bias in the selection process.

"Maybe there will be no film from India," Vinod Pandey, chairman of the Film Federation of India, said Monday. "Anything is possible. We can reaffirm our choice, send another or maybe India would retire this year."

The Bombay High Court has asked the federation to respond to a lawsuit challenging the selection of well-known filmmaker Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Eklavya: The Royal Guard.

First-time director Bhavna Talwar filed a petition claiming one panelist on the 11-member jury had edited a promotional short film for Eklavya, and that two other jury members were also close to Chopra.

7. Eli Lilly vs. Sun Pharmaceutical

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. sued India's Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. to prevent it from selling a generic version of the hyperactivity-disorder drug Strattera. Bloomberg News reports that Lilly, the largest maker of psychiatric medicines in the world, filed a complaint Sept. 20 in federal court in Detroit asking that FDA block approval of Sun's generic.

Lilly's patent on Strattera expires in 2017. The medicine generated $282 million in sales in the first two quarters for Lilly, Bloomberg reports. The patent covers a way to treat attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, with atomoxetine, the key ingredient in Strattera.

"Lilly will be irreparably harmed'' if the generic drug is not blocked, the company said in the complaint. In its application, Mumbai-based Sun told the FDA the patent is invalid, not infringed or unenforceable.

6. Danjaq vs. Cadbury India

It’s a plot that Ian Fleming didn’t script. But it has got his creation, the world’s numero uno spy with guns, gals and gizmos, James Bond 007, all shaken and stirred. Only in this case, Bond is out to squash the challenge of not some nuke-wielding terrorist but an ad for a sweet-coated chocolate candy from Cadbury India.

Read more here

5. State of California vs. Anand Jon

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California officials unsealed new rape charges against Indian-born celebrity fashion designer Anand Jon on Thursday, bringing the number of women he is accused of raping or sexually assaulting to 20.

Jon, 33, who once appeared on television show “America’s Next Top Model,” is accused of luring women back to Los Angeles to work as models and then attacking them. He has been charged with 59 counts of raping or sexually assaulting women between the ages of 14 and 27.

In June, the celebrity designer faced 46 counts involving 18 women. The new charges came after a September grand jury hearing that involved 23 witnesses, the Los Angeles County District Attorney said in a statement.

4. Gopi Vedachalam vs. Tata America International, Tata Consultancy Services Limited and Tata Sons Limited

This lawsuit should be of interest to anyone of Indian descent working for an Indian company overseas. The complaint, brought in Federal court in San Francisco by Gopi Vedachalam, an employee of Tata America International Corporation, alleges Tata unjustly enriched itself by requiring all of its non-U.S.-citizen employees to endorse and sign over their federal and state tax refund checks to Tata. The complaint alleges further that, at least until July 2005, Tata required its non-U.S.-citizen employees to sign power of attorney agreements delegating an outside agency to calculate and submit each employee's tax return to state and federal authorities.

Class counsel announced that District Court Judge Vaughn Walker denied the motion of Tata America International Corp. and its parent corporations Tata Consultancy Services Limited, and Tata Sons Limited to compel arbitration in India and dismiss the nationwide class action lawsuit in United States court.

3. Arcelor vs. Mittal

An interesting lawsuit based on Arcelor’s contention that Mittal Steel copied a type of steel used in automobile production. Interesting because Mittal probably decided they better buy Arcelor rather than face a loss in court. Mittal says the suit is not related to the takeover battle, and Mittal has said the Arcelor suit is ''without merit.''

Mittal Steel Co. has launched a $27 billion offer for rival Arcelor SA seeking a tie-up that would join the world's two largest steelmakers into a global titan. Merging the world's top steelmakers would create a company with nearly a 10% share of global steel production and a market capitalization close to $40 billion.

Arcelor, based in Luxembourg, has so far rejected the offer as hostile, saying the best thing for the company's shareholders is Arcelor's current management and plans. Most of the company's equity is held by a wide variety of small and institutional investors, as well the governments of Luxembourg and Belgium's Walloon region.

2. Three India Attorneys vs. Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty

A few publicity seekers that want attention placed on them rather than forgiving a social mistake by a foreigner have filed this ridiculous lawsuit. I can’t help but draw the analogy of an Indian in America making a similar faux pas yet the Americans would forgive the mistake and not try the case in court.

Background: Three lawyers have filed complaints in Indian courts against Hollywood actor Richard Gere and popular Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty after Gere kissed Shetty several times at a public function last weekend to promote AIDS awareness in India. Gere and Shetty have been accused of committing "an obscene act" in a public place.

Meanwhile, two other lawyers filed another complaint in a town near New Delhi, against Shetty and private television stations for broadcasting videos of the kissing debacle. Courts have reportedly asked to see a copy of the kissing incident on videotape

Read more here

1. Waytha Moorthy vs. Britain

The most ridiculous lawsuit and our number 1 choice for a waste of money goes to Waytha Moorthy a Malaysian Indian man that is suing the UK for $4 trillion dollars in a class action lawsuit. He is seeking to collect damages because the UK created indentured servants out of the world’s Indian population during British colonial rule.

This reminds me of the dimwits in the US suing the US Government (i.e. the US citizens) for crimes against their slave ancestors. Notwithstanding the illogical conclusions drawn by, “you sue me for what my great-great-grandfather may or may not have done”; how do you go about analyzing direct damages?

Well if Moorthy wins, I can always sue Moorthy for half given I am pretty sure his great grandmother only paid my great grandmother half of what she was promised in an agreement that was discriminatory.

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WalMart in India: An Exclusive First Look

Today a reliable source has given me the first look at the first Bharti-Walmart store in India. The source informed me that the under construction building is next to the Globus mega-mall is the first Walmart. Due to the sensitive issues we and others have discussed with Reliance Fresh, it makes sense Walmart wants to remain low profile as they enter India. Below we have a satellite image of the location of the first Walmart in India:

View Larger Map

It’s located next to Globus Stores Pvt Limited, on the corner of Hill Road & Waterfield Road (also known as RK Patkar), Bandra (W), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Below we have exclusive first look pictures of the store. Notice the store is going to look much different than Walmart’s in other countries. Due to the location, it appears Walmart is going for an urban style store with many floors. In fact, according to the Bharti Group Chairman, "… for small and mid-sized retail stores it has to be in city. Very large ones can be outside city.”

Pictures of Walmart India (click to enlarge)

First Walmart India Mumbai Click here to enlarge The Store is behind the Globus Mega-Mall in this picture

First Walmart India Mumbai 2 Click here to enlarge

First Walmart India Mumbai 3 Click here

Walmart India Mumbai Picture 4

Picture Source: Alan R.

Background on Walmart in India

The Bharti-WalMart launch is going to be low key ad without much fanfare due to the aforementioned issues with retail in India. According to Bharti-Walmart the lunch will happen in phases over time and "We will not go for a national launch. It would be in phases similar to our telecom business model," Bharti Group chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

The Bharti Group has claimed they will invest $2.5b by 2015 in the retail sector while entering into a 50/50 joint venture with Walmart for the cash and carry business. "Bharti will be in the frontline and Wal-Mart in cash and carry," Mittal said, adding that this model is likely to remain till the government eases FDI norms in retail. In the cash and carry business, a company operates like a bulk dealer on behalf of several manufacturers and sells the merchandise to retail traders (quote source dnaindia.com).

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Bharti Enterprises all set to open its first retail store by March 2008

By Avadh Singh

Bharti Enterprises is all set to open its first retail store in India by the March 2008 and plans to open a minimum of six stores by the end of that year.

Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman and CEO of the Bharti group, in an exclusive chat to The India Street said that the branding process would be completed soon and discussions were on with Bharti’s back-end partner Wal-Mart. “The process is going according to plan and we are looking at a cluster of stores by early 2008. You will see half-a-dozen stores coming up within the year,” pointed out Mittal.

Mittal also said to The India Street that during his visit to the US earlier this month as president of a CII delegation, he met Mike Duke, chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Incorporated, in Washington separately. Mittal also held a meeting with Carlos Gutierrez, secretary, US Department of Commerce.

Point to be noted here is that the foreign direct investment in multi-brand retailing is not yet allowed in India. As a matter of fact, only 51 per cent FDI in single-brand stores and 100 per cent in the cash-and-carry wholesale business are allowed. The existing policy also allows FDI in franchises.

In general, Bharti and Wal-Mart have started recruitment and expect to sort various issues, including legal ones, soon. “We are going ahead with legal issues like brand agreement. A franchise arrangement may take some time, but we are on track," Mittal said.

It is worthwhile remembering that last year; the Bharti group had announced an investment of $2.5 billion in its retail venture. According to an agreement with Wal-Mart, Bharti would manage the front-end and the US major would provide back-end and logistics support.

Mittal said US companies were quite interested on India opening its FDI policy in multi- brand retail chains. “In the starting they will be happy to see it happening, may be with 26 per cent FDI,” he added.