Sale Of Alleged Fake Apple AirPods To Lawyer: Allahabad High Court Orders No Coercive Action Against Flipkart Officials

The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday has ordered no coercive action to be taken against Flipkart Officials until the next date of hearing in a case involving the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against them on a complaint filed by a city-based advocate alleging that he was sold fake/counterfeit Apple Airpods by the E-Commerce giant. 

#JustIn

The #AllahabadHighCourt has directed that no coercive action be taken against @Flipkart officials (till the next date of hearing) in an FIR registered against them for allegedly selling fake #AppleAirPods to a lawyer.

Matter listed in the week commencing Dec 12 pic.twitter.com/M4J04KUzwG

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) November 4, 2022

The complaint moved by lawyer Abhimanyu Singh had alleged that the online shopping site Flipkart had sold him fake/counterfeit Apple AirPods Pro (Bluetooth Headset) for an amount of ₹17,489 in the month of August.

Earlier, a Lucknow Court had ordered the registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against the Flipkart Officials. Against this impugned order, an appeal was preferred before the High Court. 

On Friday, a Bench comprising Justice Rajesh Singh and Justice Mohd. Aslam observed that no coercive action should be taken against the concerned Flipkart officials until the next date of hearing which is slated to take place during the week commencing December 5. 

The Bench has also sought a counter-affidavit from the complainant in the meantime. 

Background 

It is the case of Singh that on August 10, 2022, he ordered an Apple Bluetooth headset after seeing an attractive advertisement on the website of Flipkart. In lieu of this, he made an online payment of ₹17,489. Thereafter, the product was delivered to him by a Flipkart delivery partner on 12th August.

However, since he got suspicious due to the packaging of the product and the description written therein, he visited Apple's authorized service center, wherein it was told that the product received by him is fake as the same was not manufactured by the company Apple.

On this account, the Complainant called the customer executive of Flipkart that the fake product was received by him and also requested for a refund. However, on August 21, his return request was rejected by the company. Thereafter, he tried to register an FIR with the Lucknow Police, however, when all his efforts failed, he moved the instant application under Section 156(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure before the Court of CJM, Lucknow.

In his application, he sought registration of an FIR for the offence of cheating against Flipkart and its managing directors, Kalyan Krishnamurthy as well as its sellers, Hydtel Retail Sales and Luminary Lifestyle Private Limited. Taking note of his application, the Court, on October 10, directed the Station House Officer (SHO), of Gomti Nagar Extension Police Station, Lucknow to lodge an FIR against the accused for cheating and deceiving the complainant.

Senior advocate Jaideep Narain Mathur and advocate Ritwick Rai appeared on behalf of the petitioner. Advocate Divya Singh represented the complainant. 

Also Read: Lucknow Court Orders Regsitration Of FIR Against Flipkart Officials For Allegedly Selling Fake Apple AirPods To A Lawyer

Case Title: Flipkart Internet Private Ltd v. State of UP through Principal Secretary and Ors