UPL LIMITED Vs. REGISTRAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present appeal under Sec. 56 of the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Right Act, 2001 ["Act"] impugns order dtd. 25/7/2022 ["Impugned Order"], passed by Respondent No. 1/ Registrar, Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Authority.

(2.) The Impugned Order has dismissed the Appellant's application filed under Sec. 24(5) of the Act for seeking reliefs of, inter-alia, damages, injunction and rendition of accounts. At that juncture, the said application had undergone comprehensive trial, final arguments had been heard and a verdict was expected on merits. Nonetheless, the Registrar held the application to be not maintainable, reasoning that such an action could only be initiated following the grant of plant variety registration and not while the application for registration was still under consideration. Consequently, the application was rejected on the premise of being prematurely filed. This rationale of the Registrar is encapsulated in the following excerpt from the Impugned Order:

(3.) Taking note of the aforenoted understanding of the Registrar, on 18/7/2023, after hearing the counsel for parties, the Court passed a detailed order and directed as follows: