Butter Chicken Invention Dispute: Daryaganj accuses Moti Mahal of defamation over 'cheats' remark

Following the objections made, Justice Sanjeev Narula of the High Court then asked Moti Mahal to file an affidavit in two weeks. "Therefore, Plaintiffs are directed to submit an affidavit, elaborating on the assertions made and affirming their effort to distance themselves from the disputed statement in the published articles," the order reads.

"Ms. Sethi’s (Moti Mahal’s) submission aims to clarify the source and nature of the statement in question. She seeks to differentiate (Moti Mahal’s) position from the editorial choices made in the course of reporting. By doing so, the Plaintiffs are effectively seeking to dissociate themselves from the remarks attributed to them, suggesting that the expressions found in the article—and identified as defamatory by the Defendants—were not reflective of their direct communications or intentions," it adds ahead.

Moti Mahal’s lawyers informed the Court that after the statement was reported, its public relations team wrote an email to The Wall Street Journal stating that the term 'cheat' was never used by Monish Gujral, who is the owner of Moti Mahal.

The email asked The Wall Street Journal to retract the statement. "In this story communication, it is evident that the term cheat was utilised which was never stated by Mr. Monish Gujral Although reference was made to leveraging Moti Mahal's legacy in our dialogue, there was no mention of the defendants being a cheat. Requesting you to retrieve the statement as this is misquoting the brand and replace the same with the below" Moti Mahal’s communication states.

The court has fixed May 29 for the next hearing in this case.

The contested case between Daryaganj and Moti Mahal goes back to earlier this year, when a lawsuit over the dish's origins was filed in the Delhi High Court. The case involves these two popular restaurants, each claiming a lineage and crediting themselves with the invention of both Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani.

According to Moneycontrol’s report, Moti Mahal’s version is that Butter Chicken was invented by their founder Kundan Lal Gujral (1902-97) in Peshawar as a way to use the dry and unsold tandoori chicken which was made using basic gravy with tomatoes, cream, and some spices to immerse the leftover tandoori chicken pieces in it, helping them regain moisture and turn palatable again.

That gave birth to Butter Chicken. When India was partitioned, Gujral moved to Delhi and so did Moti Mahal, with Butter Chicken and tandoori chicken in tow.

Daryaganj restaurant has another version and it goes like this: Butter Chicken was invented at a restaurant named Moti Mahal in Delhi’s Daryaganj. It was by the trio Kundan Lal Jaggi, Kundan Lal Gujral, and Thakur Dass who fled Peshawar in northwest Pakistan for Delhi after Partition.

A few months after opening, a busload of refugees came late to the restaurant in search of a meal, but there were only a few dry tandoori chicken pieces left.

So, Kundan Lal Jaggi (1924-2018) quickly whipped up a gravy using fresh butter, tomatoes, and various spices and dunked the smoky tandoori chicken pieces into it.

The dish became hugely popular and the restaurant a landmark in the city. While Gujral’s family still owns the brand Moti Mahal and has franchises all over the world, Jaggi’s family opened Daryaganj Restaurant at multiple locations in Delhi and Gurugram.

Moti Mahal's plea asserts that Daryaganj's claim of being the "Inventors of Butter Chicken and Dal Makhani" is misleading and creates a false impression of a connection between the two restaurants. Since then, the court is hearing both the parties.