M T N L Vs. TATA PRESS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The plaintiff has filed this suit, alleging that the defendant in intending to publish yellow pages the defendant known as Tara Press Yellow Pages (hereinafter referred to as the "yellow pages") is in violation of the Rule 458 of the Indian Telegraph Rules, 1951. The plaintiff has also filed with the plaint aforesaid applicalion under Order 39 Rules 1 and 2 of Civil Procedure Code being I.A. 3592/93 seeking an interim injunction restraining the defendants from printing and/or publishing and/or advertising and/or distributing the "Yellow Pages" booklet to anyone. No ex-parte interim injunction was granted in this case and notices were issued to the defendants who have since filed reply to the injunction application. The case of the plaintiff mainly is that the publication and printing of the said yellow pages in the form sought to be published by the defendant is nothing but publication of a parallel directory in an abridged form on the line of the yellow pages which are at present forming a supplement to the directory of the telephone subscribers being got printed by the plaintiff. It is further contended by the plaintiff that bulk of the entries of the "yellow pages" are mere list of telephone subscribers listed Trade-wise free of charge and only a small number of such parties are coming forward with advertisements in the said "yellow pages" and to the extent that the "yellow pages" can be described as a list of telephone subscribers and that would be deemed to be publication of a telephone directory as contemplated by the aforesaid Rule 458 of Indian Telegraph Rules. Counsel for the plaintiff has contended that the aforesaid rule should receive widest possible interpretation and that any limited interpretation would only defeat the intention of the rule and make it redundant. Counsel has cited the meaning given to telephone directory in certain dictionaries such as Webster wherein it has been given the following meaning:-

(2.) In the same dictionary yellow pagehave also been separately dealt with which is as under:-

(3.) The claim of the plaintiff both in suit as also injunction application has been contested by the defendants. Counsel for defendants has cited Collin dictionary wherein the expressions "Directory", "Classified Directory", "Commercial Directory or Trade Directory" and "Telephone Directory' are explained as under:- "Directory" noun list of people or businesses with information about their addresses and telephone numbers: "Classified Directory" list of businesses grouped under various headings, such as computer shopes or newsagents: "Commercial Directory or trade Directory" book which lists all the businesses and business people in a town; "Telephone Directory" book which lists all people and business who have telephones, in alphabetical order with their phone numbers.