Case Title: Paris Foods and Chemical Industries Vs. Martbaan:Date of Order: 28th May, 2025
Case Number: CM(M)-IPD 20/2024:Name of Court: High Court of Delhi:Name of Judge: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Saurabh Banerjee
The petitioner challenged an order passed by the District Judge in a commercial suit for trademark infringement, where the trial court had permitted the respondent to place on record additional documents belatedly. These documents, including certain invoices, were allowed without notice to the petitioner and without any explanation from the respondent for the delay in filing them along with the original or amended plaint.
The dispute before the High Court involved the validity of the trial court’s order that accepted late documents without prior notice or opportunity to respond, allegedly in violation of the Commercial Courts Act and the Civil Procedure Code provisions, particularly Order XI Rule 1. The petitioner argued that allowing such documents without leave of the court and without just cause contravened procedural norms and relied on multiple precedents to support this claim.
The Judge held that the order passed by the District Judge was legally sustainable as it was a conditional order requiring the respondent to pay costs of ₹10,000 and also granted the petitioner liberty to file rebuttal documents. The Court noted that the petitioner had already accepted the cost amount, and by doing so, effectively acquiesced to the order and waived the right to challenge it. It reiterated the settled principle that parties cannot approbate and reprobate and cited various precedents confirming that accepting costs amounts to accepting the order.
The High Court dismissed the appeal, holding that there was no error in the District Judge’s decision and that the petitioner, having accepted the benefits under the impugned order, could not subsequently challenge it.
