# Delhi HC reserves order on HUL vs Beco jurisdiction plea 2026-08-24T16:07:12+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its order on whether it can hear Hindustan Unilever's plea against Beco over an advertising campaign that HUL alleges falsely portrays its Surf Excel and Vim products. HUL argued the court has jurisdiction because Beco's website is accessible in Delhi and allows purchases by city consumers. Beco countered that website accessibility alone does not constitute deliberate targeting, noting its principal place of business and advertisements are in Mumbai. The court will first decide the jurisdictional issue before passing any interim order. The dispute centres on Section 20 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which allows a suit where the cause of action arises wholly or in part. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The core question is how the 'cause of action' test applies to digital advertising, where a campaign originates in one city but is viewable nationally. Under the Code of Civil Procedure, courts have long held that mere online accessibility is not enough, a plaintiff must show purposeful availment of the forum's market. If the court rules against HUL, it would reinforce that companies must file suits where the defendant is based or where the specific targeting occurred, not anywhere a website loads. The order, expected within weeks, will set a precedent for hundreds of similar jurisdiction disputes in internet-era trademark and defamation cases. The next hearing will announce the decision on jurisdiction. ## Coverage - livemint.com Straight reporting of court arguments and case background without editorial slant. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Anup Jairam Bhambhani, Beco, Delhi High Court, Hindustan Unilever, Surf Excel, Vim Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/delhi-hc-reserves-order-on-hul-vs-beco-jurisdiction-plea/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/delhi-hc-reserves-order-on-hul-vs-beco-jurisdiction-plea/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/