UTV Refuses to Comply to Arbitration Award; Palador Takes Them to Court to Get Back its Films

(PRLEAP.COM) Mumbai, Nov 3, 2007: Palador has filed a case against UTV in the High court yesterday under Section 34 of the Arbitration & Reconciliation Act of 1996 & intends to file for breach of trust, breach of non-disclosure agreements, defamation, damages & violation of intellectual property. The company will demand upwards of Rs. 15 crores via its suits.

On August 3rd 2007, as part of the legal decree passed by the sole arbitrator, both UTV and Palador had 90 days to abide by the consent award. These included:
1. UTV was supposed to hand-over clean possession of 75 films that are in joint custody of both players, along with necessary documents and declarations that allowed Palador uninterrupted use of the its classics.UTV would not use Olive for any purposes
2. UTV was obliged to return the brand Olive collection
3. UTV would return all materials in their possession rightfully belonging to Palador
4. The 75 films being held by UTV would be returned at the cost of the exact expenses incurred by for the UTV Palador venture. (That cost was claimed to be 4.3 crores)
5. Palador would make available said amount against documents that would substantiate and prove the costing
6. Palador had the right to ask for documents that indemnified them against any future liabilities

However, none of the above was adhered too, despite Palador having raised the monies demanded. In a startling development, Palador realized that the moneys being claimed by UTV were inflated and it was not adhering to its promise of providing Palador with the details of how the amount was arrived upon. Additionally, Palador has discovered through its various partners that UTV has more materials in its possession than it had declared in the settlement (this includes some rare posters, photographic material, priceless short films and negatives). There are also personal belongings of the founders of Palador and its team – that were retained by UTV on sacking 20 people with a 40 minute notice, when it terminated the relationship on flimsy allegations (these were later unconditionally withdrawn by UTV).

On being confronted by Palador, UTV flatly denied having them in hand (Palador has signed acknowledgements from UTV of the same, as evidence) or assuring a return of the same upon receipt of payments – an act that shows malafide intent. UTV has also refused to comply with the documentation required by Palador’s lawyers. Further, Palador was shocked to receive notices from parties who were supposed to have been paid as per UTV’s claims (a costing they were charging to Palador), still referring to Palador’s catalogue and continuing use of Olive – the brand conceived and owned by Palador. Palador has also not been furnished with proof of payment of the claimed amount of Rs. 4.03278 crores, despite sending notice to UTV under section 3 of the arbitration act after the settlement. UTV has also falsely claimed that there were meetings for “negotiations” held between the two parties.

Palador has thence asked the High Courts (case 659) to compel UTV to furnish proof of all the claims & allegations, before it shells out money to the publicly listed company, which was consistently provided with ideas, concepts, business plans and other services by Palador and its various partners including independent studios.

Gautam Shiknis, Founder & Managing Director of Palador, says “We stood through having our business plan being illegally hived off into another company, false allegations made against us in the global media and having our precious films maliciously claimed. Despite having made arrangements for the money, we were left with no other recourse but to take this stand and deliver justice to itself, the employees that were thrown out of the door with 40 minutes notice and for the love of directors we worship.”

Says Mr. Mahesh Mathai, legendary ad film maker, and the director of two films including ‘Bhopal Express’, and also an investor in Palador, "Whatever has happened is rather unfortunate. However, Palador is a company brimming with ideas. It is the vision of Palador and its founder Gautam and Mohan, that has prompted us to invest in them. And we will continue to support them in whatever manner possible in the future. I am sure that justice will prevail in the end."

Despite the serious setbacks it received because of the UTV relationship, Palador has invested more resources on cinema in 90 days, than over 8 months of the partnership with UTV. It has expanded its catalogue to nearly 1000 films, as against under 200 and moved into a sprawling 12,000 sq ft office in Parel, the heart of Mumbai. Additionally, not only has it raised US$ 6 million in funding, it is in final stages of paperwork to raise another US$ 10 million. Palador has tied up with some of the biggest names in India to distribute its catalogue, and intends to unveil the same at events to be held in the coming weeks.

For further information, please contact:
Neeta Pendse - Sampark Public Relations, +91 98200 00707; neeta@sampark.com
Aarif - Sampark Public Relations, +91 98339 34002 aarif@sampark.com
Satyen K. Bordoloi - +91 9967970320; satyen@mypalador.com
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KEY WORDS:

Palador, UTV, Arbitration, Olive Collection, breach of trust, Funding, World Cinema, Foreign Language Films,

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