Delhi High Court lifts ban on OnePlus One sales in India

Delhi High Court on Wednesday lifted the interim ban imposed on the import and sale of OnePlus One smartphone in the Indian market. OnePlus is now expected to resume the import and sales of the phone.

HC judges Pradeep Nandrajog and RK Gauba earlier today set aside the interim injunction issued on December 16 by Judge Manmohan Singh, acting on an appeal from OnePlus. The judges noted that it was not a case for grant of an ad-interim injunction as “prima-facie neither (OnePlus or Micromax) competes nor eats into the territory of the other.”

“An ad-interim injunction is normally issued when a very strong prima-facie case is made out by the plaintiff and the injury to the plaintiff is writ large if the defendant is not restrained from doing the activity which causes the injury to the plaintiff. In such a case the balance of convenience would obviously be in favour of the plaintiff. Since interim injunctions affect the right of a defendant, the principle of natural justice would warrant the defendant to be heard before an order adverse to the defendant’s right is passed,” the court stated in its judgement detailing why it quashed the injunction.

The court has now directed the case back to Judge Manmohan, who will hear it with arguments from all parties – OnePlus, Micromax and Cyanogen – on January 7, 2015.

Judge Manmohan had earlier banned the marketing, selling or import of the OnePlus One smartphone in the country, acting on a complaint from Micromax, which has pleaded that the release of OnePlus One infringes on its exclusive tie-up with Cyanogen for software and services in the country.

Check out the full latest court judgement here.