Daryaganj has objected to the statement attributed to the owner of Moti Mahal, which reads, “They (Daryaganj) are piggybacking off my legacy. What big cheats they are.” These remarks reportedly appeared in an article published by The Wall Street Journal,
The controversy surrounding the origin of renowned Indian dishes such as Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani saw a new development as the proprietors of Daryaganj restaurants filed a case in the Delhi High Court. They claimed that the owners of the Moti Mahal restaurant chain made defamatory and libellous remarks against them.
Daryaganj has objected to the statement attributed to the owner of Moti Mahal, which reads, “They (Daryaganj) are piggybacking off my legacy. What big cheats they are.” These remarks reportedly appeared in an article published by The Wall Street Journal, which was subsequently disseminated across various other platforms.
Following Daryaganj’s concerns, Justice Sanjeev Narula instructed Moti Mahal to submit an affidavit within a fortnight, detailing their claims that they did not make the alleged accusation and outlining their actions to disassociate from the contentious statement, according to reports by legal news portals.
Moti Mahal had initiated legal action against Daryaganj regarding assertions concerning the origins of dishes such as Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani. Moti Mahal proprietors contended that their ancestors were responsible for creating these recipes, thus contesting Daryaganj’s use of the tagline “Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani.” The High Court had served summons in response to this lawsuit.
Nevertheless, Daryaganj has submitted an application in the lawsuit expressing apprehensions that subsequent to the legal proceedings being publicised in the media, Moti Mahal’s proprietors made slanderous and defamatory remarks, which were not only covered by Indian press but also by international media outlets.
It was contended that statements such as “they (Daryaganj) are piggybacking off my legacy. What big cheats they are” were attributed to the owners of Moti Mahal and were disseminated in international media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal based in the United States.
Daryaganj asserted that the statement depicting them as cheats amounts to defamation, and highlighted that The Wall Street Journal article has been disseminated and replicated by various other online platforms.
The court emphasised that such statements, especially within the context of Moti Mahal’s lawsuit, not only harm Daryaganj’s business reputation but also bias fair adjudication. Consequently, Moti Mahal and its owners were urged to promptly rectify the defamatory remarks by retracting them and ensuring their removal from news platforms.
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