The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte interim injunction in favour of Shree Swaminarayan Sarvopari Siddhant Digvijay Trust, restraining a breakaway spiritual organisation and its office-bearers from using the registered trademark “Karan Satsang”, as well as the name, image, likeness and identity of the Trust’s founder, His Divine Holiness Devnandandasji Swami (HDH Bapji).
Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the order in a suit alleging trademark infringement, passing off and unauthorized use of the founder’s personality and intellectual property rights by Sukhmay Karan Satsang Foundation and its functionaries, some of whom were previously associated with the plaintiff trust.
According to the plaintiff, HDH Bapji institutionalised the spiritual doctrine known as “Karan Satsang” and established the plaintiff trust in 1983 for its propagation. The Trust claimed longstanding use of the mark since 1977 and ownership of registrations across multiple trademark classes, asserting that “Karan Satsang” had acquired immense goodwill and distinctiveness through decades of spiritual activities, publications, discourses and establishment of temples and centres in India and abroad.
The dispute arose after certain former trustees and office-bearers allegedly established a separate organisation named “Sukhmay Karan Satsang” in 2024 and began using the plaintiff’s registered mark as part of their corporate identity. The plaintiff further alleged that the defendants were publishing books, videos and social media content using the name, image, teachings and likeness of HDH Bapji while also representing him as the founder of the newly created organisation.
The Court took note of the plaintiff’s reliance on the Trust’s by-laws and a deed of consent executed by one of the defendants, a former trustee. The by-laws expressly vested exclusive rights over HDH Bapji’s name, image, portrait, teachings, publications, discourses and related materials in the plaintiff trust and prohibited their use without prior written permission.
After examining screenshots of WhatsApp messages, YouTube videos, Instagram posts and publications placed on record, the Court found a prima facie case of infringement. It observed that the use of HDH Bapji’s image and likeness in digital content and publications appeared to violate both the plaintiff’s trademark rights and the copyright vested in it. The Court also found merit in the plaintiff’s contention that a trust incorporated in 2024 could not plausibly claim HDH Bapji, who passed away in 2019, as its founder.
Holding that the plaintiff had established a strong prima facie case, and that the balance of convenience and irreparable injury considerations weighed in its favour, the Court restrained the defendants from using “Karan Satsang”, “Sukhmay Karan Satsang”, “Swaminarayan Sukhmay Karan Satsang”, “SSKS” or any deceptively similar mark as part of their corporate name, trade name, publications, advertisements, domain names or social media handles.
The Court further restrained the defendants from using, reproducing, publishing or exploiting HDH Bapji’s name, image, photographs, voice or likeness as their founder without the plaintiff’s permission and directed them to remove and disable access to all infringing books, videos, social media posts, publications and digital content.
Notice has been issued in the suit and the interim injunction will continue pending further proceedings.
