Butter chicken dispute: Daryaganj moves Delhi High Court alleging defamatory remarks by Moti Mahal

On March 20, the single-judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula heard an application moved by the proprietors of Daryaganj about the alleged defamatory remarks by Moti Mahal’s owners. This application was filed in a pending lawsuit moved by Moti Mahal’s proprietors over the invention of the popular chicken dish.

Justice Narula asked the proprietors of Moti Mahal to submit an affidavit, “affirming their effort to distance themselves from the statement in articles that have been published”. The matter is now listed on May 29.

Daryaganj had in its application raised concerns regarding the “defamatory” statements in the article — first published in the Wall Street Journal and then further circulated and replicated by other websites — saying they caused a substantial negative impact on the restaurant’s reputation.

Advocate Pravin Anand, appearing for Daryanganj, underscored that the standing of his clients is “reputable” and they are “respectable members of society” who are operating their restaurants under the Daryaganj brand.

Anand argued the remarks allegedly made by Moti Mahal’s owners, particularly in the context of the pending lawsuit, not only disparaged his client’s business but also prejudiced “fair adjudication” of the case. Anand sought “immediate corrective action to retract the defamatory statements and remove them from the respective websites”.

Meanwhile, the proprietors of Moti Mahal have sought to dissociate themselves from the remarks attributed to them, suggesting the expressions found in the article which have been alleged as defamatory were “not reflective” of their direct communications or intentions. During the hearing on March 20, their counsel sought to differentiate Moti Mahal’s position from the “editorial choices made in the course of reporting”.