Bombay High Court Restrains 'Sprouts News' From Publishing Allegedly Defamatory Articles Against Godrej Properties'
The Bombay High Court has held that ex parte ad-interim relief can be granted in defamation suits where the impugned articles are prima facie false, reckless and malicious, and where issuing notice would defeat the very purpose of the relief sought. The Court found that continued publication of such material would cause serious and irreparable damage to the commercial reputation of...
The Bombay High Court has held that ex parte ad-interim relief can be granted in defamation suits where the impugned articles are prima facie false, reckless and malicious, and where issuing notice would defeat the very purpose of the relief sought. The Court found that continued publication of such material would cause serious and irreparable damage to the commercial reputation of the plaintiff.
Justice R. I. Chagla was hearing an interim application filed by Godrej Properties Ltd. seeking urgent ad-interim injunction against Sprouts News in respect of articles published on 13th August 2025 and 18th August 2025. The plaintiff contended that the articles falsely alleged criminal offences, misled buyers of its projects by wrongly claiming non-compliance with fire safety norms under a repealed statute, and in one instance placed the word “Fraud” over the plaintiff's registered logo and trademark, thereby maliciously tarnishing its brand image. It was submitted that giving prior notice to the defendants would lead to further publications and aggravate the harm.
The Court accepted the plaintiff's argument of not granting notice as it would result in further publication of the material that is per se defamatory and would cause severe damage and loss of reputation to the plaintiff. It observed:
“… a case has been made for the Plaintiff seeking urgent ex parte ad-interim relief. Giving of notice to the Defendants would result in the Defendants publishing/further publishing the material… causing severe damage and loss to the reputation of the Plaintiff.”
The Court observed that the plaintiff had set out in detail the specific statements complained of and had expressly denied them. Upon perusal of the impugned articles, the Court found that they contained prima facie defamatory imputations which were per se injurious to the plaintiff's reputation. In particular, the article dated 18th August 2025, which superimposed the word “Fraud” upon the Godrej logo, was held to convey a reckless and malicious insinuation of criminal conduct.
“… the Plaintiff has made out a strong prima facie case for restraining the Defendants from publishing articles containing statements which, in my prima facie view, are false, reckless, malicious and grossly injurious and damaging to the Plaintiffs' business and commercial reputation,” the Court observed.
Accordingly, ex parte ad-interim relief was granted, with liberty to the defendants to seek modification after due notice.
Case Title: Godrej Properties Ltd. v. Sprouts News & Anr. [INTERIM APPLICATION (L) NO. 26439 OF 2025 IN SUIT (L) NO. 26438 OF 2025]