The Madras High Court on Tuesday (November 25, 2025) refused to restrain costume designer Joy Crizildaa, who claims to be married to one of the directors of popular caterer Madhampatty Thangavelu Hospitality Private Limited, from using the unregistered trademark name ‘Madhampatty Pakashala’ as a media hashtag due to a personal dispute between the two.
Justice N. Senthilkumar dismissed an application for an injunction seeking to restrain her from tagging, hashtagging, creating, writing, uploading, publishing, broadcasting, distributing, posting, disseminating or disseminating any false or harmful material, statement, video, reel, caption or photograph defaming the “good will” of the Madhampatty Pakashala trademark.
The judge agreed with senior counsel S. Prabakaran, representing Ms. Crizildaa, that the plaintiff company was not entitled to any kind of injunctive relief because it had failed to prove that his client had hashtagged Madhampatty’s name with the intention of causing harm to the catering company and that the company had in fact suffered a loss of revenue as a result of its actions.
Justice Senthilkumar said the suit filed by the company was bereft of any details regarding the cancellation of its catering contracts due to the act of the costume designer. Only a typewritten statement on the company’s letterhead was produced saying that some contracts had been cancelled, and even that statement was stripped of details such as the reason for the cancellation and so on, he added.
In its court plea, the company said it was incorporated on August 30, 2010, and had created a brand in the field of catering and food services under the brand name ‘Madhampatty Pakashala’. It has become very popular over the years.
The company said its popularity was due to the hard work of all the individuals involved in the business and the quality of the food they served, and said it had also invested a significant amount of money to create public awareness of its high-quality catering services, and that it had acquired several high-profile clients across the state.
The combined efforts have made the brand ‘Madhampatty Pakashala’ a trusted name in the hospitality industry and its clientele includes dignitaries, celebrities, politicians, corporates as well as government and private institutions. It was also widely covered in culinary magazines and other media.
Joy Crizildaa social media posts on Rangaraj
However, in July 2025, the company came to know that Ms. Crizildaa had started posting defamatory messages on her social media by branding Madhampatty Pakashala, the Madhampatty group of companies and other brands associated with it, Mr. Raman said.
“The plaintiff’s trademark is being deliberately defamed by the first defendant (Ms. Crizildaa) who, with malice and ulterior motive, is spreading false and scandalous allegations that she shares an alleged conjugal relationship with Rangaraj, one of the directors of the plaintiff,” the suit reads.
It continued, “These allegations are completely false, fabricated and devoid of any factual basis and have been deliberately made to tarnish the reputation of the plaintiff trademark ‘Madhampatty Pakashala’ and other brands and its management before the public.
Bringing up the personal affairs of an individual director could not be used to disparage the company’s reputation built up through years of hard work, determination and goodwill, the plaintiff said, such actions by the defendant would cause the company serious reputational and business loss.
The company urged the court to enjoin the defendant from tagging, hashtagging, creating, writing, uploading, posting, broadcasting, distributing, posting, circulating or disseminating any false or malicious material, statements, videos, reels, headlines or photographs disparaging the “goodwill” of Madhampatty Pakashala.
She also sought her to delete defamatory posts on her accounts and social media.
Published – 25 Nov 2025 11:44 IST
