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Punjab and Haryana high court has held that the freedom of contract must be founded upon equality and bargaining power between the contracting parties as the party having less bargaining power is left with little or no choice but to accept the unfair and unreasonable terms imposed upon it by that with superior bargaining power.
“In the present case, prima facie, the terms of the agreement in question are unfair So, the agreement cannot be prima facie considered to be valid and there fore cannot be said to be ding on the plaintiff,” Justice Gurbir Singh has ordered while dismissing a plea filed by Sajjan Kumar Duhan and another against Shehnaz Kaur alias Shehnaaz Gill, who is an actor, singer, model and former reality TV show contestant.
The appellant, proprietor of ‘Simran Music Industries’ had challenged the order dated August 29, 2023, passed by a local court in Mohali in actor-singer’s favor.
After hearing all the parties, the HC held, “The silence of defendants prima facie establishes that they took the agreement to have been rescinded, as conveyed by Shehnaaz….”
Shehnaaz had sung as well as performed in numerous songs and music videos including one song titled ‘Vehem’, which was recorded in 2019. It was further contended that just two days prior to entering a reality TV show on September 27, 2019, the appellant approached her requesting her to sign a quick “Memorandum of Understanding “regarding a show of intent with respect to their future working relationship. The actor-singer signed the same in hurry and left for the show.
Later, on December 25, 2020, the actor-singer sent a legal notice informing the appellant that the impugned agreement was result of misrepresentation and was absolutely void and unenforceable. It was also communicated that she had rescinded the said agreement and was, in no way, bound by the same.
After that legal notice, Shehnaaz did not receive any communication from the company and the matter was deemed settled.
However, after over two years, the company suddenly raised an ownership conflict through their YouTube channel on Shehnaaz’s latest music video titled ‘Ghani Syanni’ produced by ‘Desi Music Factory’ and released in December 2022, due to which YouTube temporarily suspended the revenue in- flow to the producers of the song, as per their protocol So, the producers were deprived of all the revenue from YouTube despite the video having reached 24 mil- lion views. This caused irreparable harm to Shehnaaz’s career and reputation and she approached Mohali court and got orders against the appellant. Aggrieved by that, the present petition was filed against Shehnaaz.
After hearing all the parties, the HC held, “The silence of defendants prima facie establishes that they took the agreement to have been rescinded, as conveyed by Shehnaaz….”
For case specific advice, connect with Contract Lawyers in High Court Chandigarh.
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