Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.Copyright Lawsuit: Defenses Glorifying the Aga Khan filed in federal Court - 2010-04-29
In a surprisingly rapid twist of events, both Mr Tajdin and Mr Jiwa have filed their respective statements of Defense this 29th of April 2010. They affirm to being devoted followers who will unconditionally abide by the wishes of the Aga Khan, whom they glorify in their defense.
Mr Tajdin declares that:
He has not been served yet but the ethics imposed upon him by his faith demands that he should not keep in ignorance the public by being silent on the issue and should clarify all of the facts, pertaining to this lawsuit, of which he is aware.
He reaffirms his allegiance to the Aga Khan, is willing to submit to any of his wishes, and is ready to surrender himself and all his possessions to the Imam.
He has been printing Farman books since 1992 with approval and instructions from the Imam received on August 15, 1992 in Montreal.
He has not received any communication from the Imam from 1992 to 2009 instructing him to stop publication.
He cannot stop publication without instruction from the Imam as this would be a breach of his oath of allegiance to the Imam.
All Farman publications were financial deficit projects done as a volunteer service and large numbers of books were distributed free of charge.
Farman sharing is a historic Ismaili tradition which still continues today.
The current Ismaili Constitution does not restrict the right to publish Farmans
Mr Tajdin concludes that:
He has no choice but to await further direct instructions from the Imam.
He reaffirms his allegiance to the Aga Khan, is willing to submit to any of His wishes, and is ready to surrender himself and all his possessions to the Imam.
Mr Jiwa states that:
"This action does not appear to have been authorized personally by the Aga Khan .."
"In distributing Farman books obtained from Tajdin to other Ismailis, he has not violated either the Ismaili Constitution or any Farmans"
He has not violated the copyright act as "Tajdin was given express authority by the Imam" and regardless of the fact that "the limitations period provided for by the Copyright Act also bars this action as the books containing the Farmans were commenced publication in the year 1992", he will still do whatever the Imam tells him to do.
Mr Jiwa clarifies finances:
He "obtains these books for C$50.00 and sells them for C$50.00 or gives them free, without any profit.
"All monies received by him from the sale of (other) books after 2005 were delivered to the Jamatkhanas"
Mr Jiwa further states that:
"If the Imam edited the Farman before releasing to the Jamats, in effect he is superceding the Farman he made orally previously."
He "unconditionally reconfirms his oath of allegiance to his Imam" and "if the Imam does not desire his Farman books to be distributed to the Jamats (...) this defendant will submit to the instructions of His Imam without reservation whatsoever"
Replies From the Plaintiff are due within 10 days, and Affidavits of Documents are due 30 days later.
[Update from May 6: Ogilvy Renault, the law firm which launched the case has asked for an extension of 15 days to reply to the Defense. They claim delays due to breakdown of email servers, blackberry communication, travel of senior lawyer, time difference with Paris etc...The more delays in this file, the more damage it creates to the reputation of the Ismaili community, the Imam and the defendants. It is to the advantage of all parties that this case be withdrawn from the courts.]
[Update from June 22: Defendants have filed a Motion for summary Judgement to have the case dismissed.]
[Update from September 5:
Online Book that gathers court materials as well as articles that are currently available for the ongoing 2010 Lawsuit:
Copyright Lawsuit 2010: Online Book of All available Materials
News on cross-examinations:
Copyright Lawsuit: CROSS_EXAMINATIONS Table of Contents - 2010-09-04
Latest Development
Copyright Lawsuit: Imam Appears for Discovery and Ends the Case - 2010-10-15
As users are asking to read the letters from Nagib and Alnaz on the court docket, the latest have been attached on the following link:
A. Various Court Filings
Revised Factums have been posted Here:
2010-11-29 Summary Judgment : Plaintiffs Revised Combined Factums of Reply and of Motion
2010-11-29 Summary Judgment: Defendants' Revised Factums of Motion and of Reply
There has been proven fraud in the recent past in the Aga Khan's domain by the Aga Khan's agents:
Aga Khan Lawsuit: Fraud at Aga Khan Studs - 2000-02-22
2011-05-25: A Jamati Member who has never met the Defendants volunteered as his brotherly duty to pay the $30,000 that was demanded in the Plaintiff''s submissions and that was accordingly ordered by the judge.
Read the full details of the $30,000 payment directly to H.H. The Aga Khan.
2011-06-16: The Appeal Memorandum of Fact and Law against the Summary Judgment has been filed in court by the defendants on June 16th, 2011.
Read the Full Appeal Memorandum of Fact and Law
Link to Court Docket Case T-514-10
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-60-11
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-59-11
Link to Court Docket Appeal A-156-13
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Tajdin Defence Apr 29.10.pdf | 491.02 KB |
| Jiwa AK Defence Apr 29.10.pdf | 543.82 KB |
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Comments
Farman Copyright Lawsuit
Your question is in the mind of many people.
Mowla is not involved in the dispute between Alnaz and Nagib and Sachedina. Our faith in the Imam is complete, unconditional and untouched. He came to tell Sachedina's lawyer, Mr Gray, to put the matter to rest and he explained to Gray and Sachedina in October 2010 that he needed the Farman books and gave us instructions to continue publishing Farman books in accordance during the Mehmani of 1992. He even offered to give us ALL of his annotated Farmans. When Alnaz asked the Imam at the end of the half hour meeting if He would accept our Mehmani on behalf of those who supported the book and their family, the Imam said twice "I accept". What else would we need as an Ismaili. Imam's acceptance to our Mehmani "On behalf of those who have supported the book and their family" that is all we want. If you have supported this book, you and your family are part of our Mehmani and Imam's blessings.
The present prothonotary said recently that I had told her in 2010 that the case will be finished in 5 minutes after the meeting with the Imam and she sees that it is not yet finish. She assumed I misled her. But the fact is I am the defendant, I can not end the case, only the plaintiff can. The case was finished. What could I do if Gray and Sachedina refused to follow the instructions of the Imam and continue the case? Gray arranged for the transcript and there is nothing of what Imam said for almost half an hour! No tape, no record. Master Stroke by Gray! As if Imam never said anything! yes we were naive, we assumed Sachedina and Gray will obey the Imam. Our mistake.
When we came out of the meeting, a reporter from Ottawa called me and ask what had happened, I told him only one sentence and he published that the next day quoting me "It is good that the case is finished, it will bring back peace to the community", I really believed that day that Gray and Sachedina had understood the Imam and they would follow his instructions to close the case which they unfortunately did no do.
Why Mowla did not come with another lawyer to stop the lawsuit is a matter only he can reply. I believe He will when the time is right. There is an expression in French, it is called "Raison d'Etat". Sometimes the interest of a couple of person should be sacrificed for the greater good or for a diplomatic or political reason.
In Canada, a lawyer is always believed by the Court in priority over self-represented defendants, even if the lawyer lies and mislead the Court. I filed an affidavit as part of a motion which was to be heard on a date which was given to me and the prothonotary just decided she did not want to hear that motion and put it in abeyance ad_vitam_æternam. That affidavit explained all the lies we had faced in Court and it reported the half hour instructions received from the Imam in October 2010.
Unless Mowla file in Court an affidavit saying that he did not file any affidavit in support of this lawsuit because he was not the plaintiff. Up to then, if a lawyer says he represent even Jesus Christ, he does not have to prove that he has a retainer. That is the law in Canada. It did not matter to the Court that Sachedina said under oath that he was never asked by the Imam to file his affidavit and Bhaloo, the only other affiant said he was asked to file his by Sachedina. The lawsuit was filed on the strength of people unrelated to Farmans. The Copyright is a personal matter, it was never transferred by the Imam to Bhaloo and Sachedina.
You have asked above about the test. This is not a test for me. My test was to follow Imam's instructions received in the Holy Mehmani and to published the Farmans books as per his wish so the test was completed on 13 December 2009 (5 years ago) without any glitches. The Imam said whoever has the book (Golden Edition Farmans) can keep it. He had no objection. Sachedina was insisting that the books should be recalled. The Imam told him no, several times before Sachedina kept quite. What kind of person would oppose the Imam?
Whatever followed after the 10th Farman book in 2010 is just distraction, not a test. Why it happened is simple, it was necessary for Sachedina to discredit me as I had discovered the frauds and forgeries in Aiglemont. These forgeries were confirmed by 3 independent forensic experts, one from the USA and two from Canada. Then when the Imam came, he denied all of the false claims in the statement of claim and the content of their forged letters.
My mother told me "I know how you can defeat the Devil but I don't know how you can defeat a liar". Do you?
Nagib