Can A Defendant Seek A Temporary Injunction?

The law of injunction in our country finds its roots from the equity jurisprudence inherited from English law, who borrowed it from the Roman law. Following the principle of Ubi jus, ibi remedium¹, an injunction provides remedy by prohibiting/restraining person(s) from doing a specified act or commanding them to undo some wrong or injury. The relief of injunction is discretionary and equitable and cannot be claimed as a matter of right.

In usual course, such interim reliefs are sought under Order XXXIX of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 ("Code"). Order XXXIX, Rule 1 provides for cases in which temporary injunction may be granted. It reads as follows: