The Bombay High Court recently held that a plaintiff’s inability to prove the exact quantum of loss does not preclude an award of damages where the fact of loss is proven and the available evidence provides a reasonable basis for assessment.
This observation was made by Justice Arif S Doctor in the matter of Ultra Distributors Pvt Ltd v Dhariwal Films Pvt Ltd & Ors, a long-pending copyright dispute concerning the film ‘Nehle Pe Dehla’. The judgment was delivered on August 29, 2026.
The suit was filed by Ultra Distributors in 2007. In 2005, Ultra had entered into an assignment agreement with Dhariwal Films to acquire exclusive video, cable TV and video-on-demand rights for the film for eight years. Ultra paid ₹10.01 lakh upfront out of the total consideration of ₹42.51 lakh. Dhariwal Films failed to deliver master tapes of exploitable quality and instead permitted a rival distributor to exploit the same video rights.
The court found that Dhariwal Films engaged in blatant commercial dishonesty by assigning the exact same video rights to multiple entities. It noted that the defendant took contradictory positions in different legal proceedings regarding who held the rights, which the court described as indicative of misrepresentation and cheating.
Justice Doctor stated that such conduct warranted punitive damages to deter parties from entering contracts on false representations or making double assignments. The court emphasized that punitive damages were necessary to uphold the sanctity of contractual obligations.
On the question of compensation, the court held that the inability to prove the precise quantum of loss with exactitude does not, in an appropriate case, prevent an award of damages if the fact of loss is established and the evidence furnishes a reasonable basis for assessment.
To assess the loss, the court adopted a ‘rough and ready’ reasonable approach. It relied on unfiled consent terms in which Dhariwal Films had valued the rights at ₹82.51 lakh. From this, the court deducted the balance consideration Ultra was yet to pay under the original agreement, arriving at ₹50.01 lakh as expectation damages to place Ultra in the economic position it would have enjoyed had the contract been performed.
The court further took into account proved publicity expenses and unchallenged witness testimony, and upheld the full compensatory claim of ₹1.66 crore.
Accordingly, the court decreed the suit and directed Dhariwal Films Pvt Ltd to pay ₹1.66 crore as compensatory damages, ₹25 lakh as punitive damages, and ₹15 lakh as legal costs within eight weeks.
Advocates Rashmin Khandekar, Pranav Nair, Jyoti Ghag and Shailesh Prajapati, instructed by Dua Associates, appeared for Ultra Distributors. Advocates Amit Dubey, Abdullah Shaikh and Ashok M Saraogi appeared for Dhariwal Films Pvt Ltd.