TN catering firm alleges Rs 12 cr loss over costume designer's posts; Madras HC adjourns hearing

Chennai, Sep 17 (IANS) A catering company on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that it had suffered cancellation of catering and food service contracts worth Rs 12 crore over the last 15 days, allegedly due to “disparaging” social media posts by costume designer Joy Crizildaa.

The company named Madhampatty Thangavelu Hospitality Private Limited, which owns the popular trademark Madhampatty Pakashala, claimed the brand had been severely tarnished after Crizildaa, who says she is married to one of its directors, Madhampatty Rangaraj, began posting damaging content online.

Appearing before Justice N. Senthilkumar, senior counsel P.S. Raman, assisted by Vijayan Subramanian, argued that the hashtags used in the posts were diverting potential customers searching for the company’s menu on social media towards defamatory content.

“The reputational harm is immense, and customers are backing out of contracts,” Raman told the court while pressing for an injunction to restrain the designer from using such hashtags.

Opposing the plea, senior counsel S. Prabakaran, representing Crizildaa, disputed the company’s claim of losses amounting to Rs 12 crore. He pointed out that no such assertion had been made in the plaint and argued that it was being raised only orally during the proceedings.

“If they claim such loss, it must be in writing,” he said. Defending his client’s posts, Prabakaran said her freedom of speech and expression could not be curtailed. He also conveyed her personal anguish, quoting her statement: “I have been cheated after marriage. Now I am in an advanced stage of pregnancy. My life has been ruined.” The counsel further questioned why the company appeared to be shielding its director, noting that Crizildaa had filed a police complaint against Rangaraj on August 29.

“Immediately thereafter, the company rushed to court with a trademark suit. This raises doubts about the maintainability of their case,” he argued.

The court also recorded that Rangaraj himself had filed a separate suit seeking protection of his personality rights.

Justice Senthilkumar directed the Registry to number his suit, if all papers were in order, and list it along with the company’s case on September 24.

The judge said the company’s request for an interim injunction against the use of hashtags would be considered on the next date of hearing.

--IANS

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