The Delhi High Court issued notice to former Yes Bank MD Rana Kapoor on Thursday in response to Penguin Random House India’s appeal challenging a trial court ordr prohibiting them from printing and selling a book on Kapoor.
A single bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri directed kapoor to file his response ad scheduled the matter for further consideration on July 24, 2023.
Kapoor is an accused in the Rs 466 crores Yes Bank scam.
Furquan Moharkan, a journalist, wrote the book “The Banker Who Crushed His Diamonds: The Yes Bank Tale,” which was published in February 2021.
Nevertheless, Kapoor made an appeal in court, claiming that the book contains false charges against him that are exceedingly prejudicial to the ongoing inquiry.
The trial court issued an ex-parte ad interim injunction banning the book’s publishing and distribution on December 22, 2021. On January 28, 2023, it was verified.
Senior Counsel Trideep Pais, representing Penguin, contended that the trial court overlooked the fact that Kapoor approached the court 11 months after the book was published.
The plea further stated that Kapoor was aware of the Book’s potential release as early as June 2020, when the author approached his daughter to learn their side of the narrative, and when she answered through her lawyer, advising him not to publish.
It went on to say that by failing to provide a debate on the merits or give adequate grounds, particularly why the entire Book i sbeing injuncted, the trial court went beyond the Supreme Court’s judgments, amounting to blanket censorship and a breach of free speech rights.
