The Delhi High Court granted Taxmann an ex parte interim injunction restraining Commercial Law Publishers from selling eight publications that allegedly reproduced its copyrighted case headnotes word for word.

The Delhi High Court has restrained Commercial Law Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd. from publishing or selling eight publications that allegedly copied headnotes written by Taxmann, holding prima facie that the defendants did not merely draw legal propositions from judgments but reproduced the plaintiff’s own headnotes verbatim [Taxmann Allied Services Pvt. Ltd. v. Commercial Law Publishers (India) Pvt. Ltd. & Ors., 2026-juristway.com-3481-HC(Delhi)-INDLAW].

Justice Vikas Mahajan passed the ex parte ad interim order in a commercial suit for copyright infringement. A headnote is the short summary of the legal point decided, written by a publisher’s editors and placed at the top of a reported judgment.

Taxmann argued that its headnotes are original works, produced through legal skill and judgment in identifying, distilling and presenting the ratio of each ruling. It said that during market monitoring it found its headnotes reproduced in eight of the defendants’ publications, including books on income tax law, and placed side-by-side comparisons before the Court. According to the plaint, in several titles dozens of its headnotes had been copied, in some cases with page references.

After examining the comparisons, the Court accepted that the defendants had copied the plaintiff’s headnotes, including its distinctive manner of identifying and presenting the legal proposition and the operative part of the judgment. It found a prima facie case, irreparable loss and the balance of convenience in Taxmann’s favour.

Until the next date, the defendants and all persons acting for them are restrained from printing, publishing, distributing, selling or advertising the eight publications, or any other publication containing Taxmann’s headnotes or any substantial reproduction of them.

The Court also exempted Taxmann from pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, finding the urgency plausible. Taxmann did not press its request for a Local Commissioner at this stage. Notice was issued, with the defendants given four weeks to reply. The matter is listed before the Joint Registrar on 13 Jan 2027 and before the Court on 2 Mar 2027.

2026-juristway.com-3481-HC(Delhi)-INDLAW