CS(COMM)/242/2025 of TOMMY HILFIGER EUROPE BV Vs SANJEEV KUMAR GROVER & ORS. on 24 September 2026

O R D E R

% 24.09.2026 I.A. 26377/2026 (joint application by plaintiff and defendants under Order XXIII Rule 3 r/w Section 151 CPC)

1. The present application has been jointly filed by the plaintiff and the defendants for decreeing the suit in terms of the settlement arrived at between them.

2. It is stated by the learned counsels for the parties that during pendency of the present suit, the plaintiff as well as defendants have arrived at a settlement, terms whereof have been recorded in para 6 of this application.

3. The application has been duly signed by the authorized representatives of the plaintiff as well as the defendants

4. This Court has perused the terms of the settlement delineated in para 6

of the application and find the same to be lawful. Therefore, there does not appear to be any impediment in recording the terms of settlement and decreeing the suit in terms thereof.

5. Accordingly, the application is allowed and the suit is decreed in terms of the settlement as recorded in the application, which shall form part of the decree.

6. The application is disposed of in the above terms.

7. At this stage, learned counsel for the plaintiff prays for refund of Court fees.

8. It is noted that the Government of NCT of Delhi has issued a notification published in the Delhi Gazette dated 06.03.2026 vide notification no. F. 14 (105)/LA-2026/ jtsecylaw /359-368 titled “The Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2026”, whereby Section 16 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 has been substituted and Section 16A has been omitted. The substituted Section 16, as applicable to the National Capital Territory of Delhi, reads as under: “Section 16 – Refund of Fee:- Where the parties to a suit or appeal, at any stage of such suit or appeal, settle their dispute amicably, with or without the intervention of the Court and with or without invoking any of the modes of settlement of dispute, referred to in section 89 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) and the said suit including Counter-claim, if any, or appeal is disposed of as settled/compromised by the court, the plaintiff/Counter-claimant shall be entitled to a certificate from the Court authorizing him to receive back from the collector/competent officer, the full amount of fee, paid in respect of such plaint/counter claim.”

9. As per the Gazette notification dated 06.03.2026, the newly substituted Section 16 has come into force w.e.f. 06.03.2026. Reading of the newly substituted Section 16 stipulates that instances where parties to a suit settle their dispute amicably at any stage of the proceedings and the suit is disposed of as settled/compromised by the Court, even without intervention of ADR mechanism, the plaintiff shall be entitled to a certificate from the Court authorizing him to receive back from the Collector/competent officer the full amount of court fee paid in respect of the plaint.

10. Having regard to the fact that the present suit is being disposed of in light of out of the Court settlement between the parties, this Court is of the view that the plaintiff is entitled to refund of full court fees affixed on the plaint.

11. Accordingly, the Registry of this Court is directed to issue a certificate to the plaintiff for refund of full court fees.

12. The pending applications also stand disposed of. VIKAS MAHAJAN, J SEPTEMBER 24, 2026 aj/ss