In a reprieve to 83-year-old Vijaypat Singhania, former chairman of Raymond Group, the Bombay High Court on Wednesday set aside the injunction against the sale and distribution of his autobiography - An Incomplete Life.
A bench of Justices Shahrukh Kathawalla and Abhay Ahuja was hearing the plea filed by Pan Macmillan India against an order passed by a single-judge bench of the HC, which had on November 4, restrained the publishing company from further distributing or selling the book.
The judges said that the single judge had passed the injunction order under an erroneous impression that the District Court at Thane has passed the April 22, 2021 orders granting stay or interim order against the erstwhile publisher from publishing the book.
“Incomplete Life” was to continue until the pendency of the Appeal filed by the company, said the bench. The bench, accordingly, set aside the November 4 order of the single judge and granted liberty to the parties to approach the single judge again.
With this order, the publishing company can start selling the book immediately.
Singhania is embroiled in a legal spat with his estranged son Gautam Singhania and since then, the Raymond company has been seeking to stay the publishing of the autobiography.
The company has claimed that the content of the book is defamatory and should not be made public.
In its suit filed before a civil court in Thane, the company has claimed that its right to privacy is breached. It said that the book's contents have been defamatory as it has extensively discussed the business operations and also some confidential information about the company.
