The Udipi Caf? Legal Battle | Indo American News

By Sowmya Nandakumar

SUGAR LAND: In the ongoing Udipi Caf? case, (involving Sathish Rao, owner of Udipi Caf?, and Meena Agrawal, President of ShriHari Enterprise, Inc., DBA Udipi Cafe Sugar Land), it has been stated to Indo American News (IamNEWS) by Sathish Rao that the court (judge) directed Meena Agrawal to hand over ownership of the premises of Udipi Caf? Sugar Land to Sathish Rao by May 18, 2012. On Tuesday, May 22, Sathish Rao claimed that this had not been done.

Sathish Rao?s attorney, Tarush Anand, further reiterated that the jury delivered a unanimous verdict in favor of Sathish Rao following which the judge delivered the final judgment on the case.

Rao said, (and Anand confirmed) that Agrawal has filed an appeal in court ? with this new development, the judge?s ruling on the case is yet to be conformed with. According to Anand, although an appeal has been filed and is pending in court, the final judgment in the case still had to be followed.

Anand said, ?The Final Judgment required Meena Agrawal?s company, ShriHari Enterprise, Inc., to return the restaurant to Satish Rao?s company by May 18, 2012. They have not returned the restaurant. Instead, they have decided to appeal the case and, in the meantime, are trying to avoid having to return the restaurant.?

When IamNEWS called the Sugar Land restaurant premises over the phone to speak to Meena Agrawal, her husband, Suresh Agrawal spoke to our correspondent. Suresh Agrawal clearly stated that without consulting the Agrawals? lawyer, he would not make any comments about Rao?s statements to the newspaper. He also advised the newspaper not to get involved in legal matters and cautioned that this would lead him to take legal action against the newspaper. He forewarned the newspaper of such legal repercussions. During this conversation our correspondent did not get a chance to speak to Meena Agrawal.

Later, Meena Agrawal called the paper back. In response to Rao?s statements to the paper, she said, that they had filed an appeal in court and the business will be run status quo until the court decides further on the appeal. When asked if she could reveal the nature of the appeal, she said that this was a legal matter and that the newspaper would have to speak to her lawyer for more details on that.?She mentioned that speaking to her lawyer about this might need for the newspaper to pay consultation fees to her lawyer. (Anand later mentioned in an email to the newspaper that the final judgement and the affidavit filed by Agrawal are public documents that are part of the court?s records and are freely accessible to the general public.)

Agrawal also told the newspaper that it was the newspaper?s duty to corroborate both sides of a story before putting it out there for the public to read. In addition she said that when the case was still pending in court, Rao had chosen to make it public just in order to defame her. If the newspaper published this matter when the case was still ongoing, she said that she might have to take legal action against Sathish Rao and IamNEWS as well.

In an email addressed to the Managing Partner of the Indo American News, Krishna Giri, later that afternoon, Meena Agrawal, (repeating her spoken words during the telephonic conversation) wrote, ?As per our today?s conversation with your correspondent, Ms. Sowmya Nandakumar, we have consulted with our lawyer (Mr. Sanford Dow, cc?d here) and are advising you not to publish any stories or editorials in your publication about Udipi Cafe Sugar Land (Owned and Operated by Meena Agrawal), or any parties involved due to ongoing legal matters. A copy of the appeal papers has been attached to this email for your reference.?

She added, ?We respect your newspaper and hope you do not lower your standards to become another run of the mill tabloid as it will severely damage your reputation. Please refrain from publishing any half-truth stories so that we do not have to pursue legal options for defamation.?

In response, Krishna Giri said, ?IamNews is a commnity newspaper, which the community has relied on for information, over the last 30 years. To us there is no good or bad news, it is all just news. Many a time what is good news to one may be bad to the other. We have always been fair and even in this case, we gave both parties an opportunity to express themselves.?

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