Delhi High Court grants ‘superlative injunction’ to enable blocking of rogue mobile apps

The Delhi High Court recently granted a “superlative injunction” in favour of broadcaster Star India, extending the scope of traditional dynamic injunctions to cover real-time blocking of rogue mobile applications in addition to infringing websites [Star India Pvt Ltd v. IPTV Smarter Pro & Ors]..Justice Saurabh Banerjee, in an order passed on May 29, held that the “superlative injunction” would allow the plaintiff (Star) to obtain real-time relief against newly discovered infringing platforms streaming its copyrighted content without having to repeatedly approach the Court."This is, thus, a superlative injunction, which, for ease of reference can easily be referred to as an extended version of the available dynamic+ injunction, as the said superlative injunction also opens up an additional route for the plaintiff(s) to avail the grant of real-time relief(s) against the infringing activities of ‘rogue’ defendant(s) irrespective of the mode(s) thereof," the order stated..The Court was dealing with a suit filed by Star India against IPTV Smarters and other unknown defendants engaged in unauthorised streaming of sports content. The plaintiff had already secured an interim injunction on February 10 against a list of rogue websites and permitting impleadment of new infringers as they emerged.Following the initial order, Star India filed seven applications to bring on record 16 new domains and three mobile applications allegedly engaged in piracy of its live sports content, including the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the upcoming England Tour of India 2025.It submitted that the procedural requirement of moving the Court each time a new rogue website or app was discovered posed a risk of irreparable harm, particularly given the urgency of blocking access to unauthorised streams during live sports broadcasts..The Court accepted this contention after noting the organised and fast-paced nature of online piracy. It observed that infringers routinely generate mirror and redirect variants of websites and apps to bypass enforcement.“In the new age of technology...by the time the affected party like the plaintiff approaches this Court, it is too late."It further held that there was no justification for restricting such injunctive relief only to websites.“There is neither any impediment nor any harm...if the same relief as granted in cases of rogue websites are also granted...to rogue mobile applications,” the Court said..Accordingly, the Court directed domain name registrars (defendants 5–8 and 28–30) to suspend access to infringing domains, and internet service providers (defendants 9–16) to block access on a real-time basis upon notification by Star. The defendants were also directed to disclose names, addresses and payment details related to the infringing platforms.The relief will remain in effect till July 3. The Court clarified that there was no need to issue notices to the newly impleaded defendants for the directions to operate.This is the first reported instance of an Indian court coining and applying the term “superlative injunction” to describe an enhanced form of dynamic+ injunction that extends enforcement measures to multiple modes of digital infringement, including mobile applications..Star was represented by Advocates Sidharth Chopra, Yatinder Garg, Disha Sharma, Rimjhim Tiwari and Isha Singh from Saikrishna & Associates. The defendants were represented by Advocates Avish Sharma, Mrinal Ojha, Debarshi Dutta, Arjun Mookerjee, Nikita Rathi and Nikhil Gupta..Read Judgment