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Copyright Lawsuit: Defenses Glorifying the Aga Khan filed in federal Court - 2010-04-29

Date: 
Thursday, 2010, April 29
Location: 
Source: 
Heritage News
20100429-court-filings.jpg

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

Latest News Comments

AttachmentSize
Tajdin Defence Apr 29.10.pdf491.02 KB
Jiwa AK Defence Apr 29.10.pdf543.82 KB

Comments

ICAB RULING !

email to as received "ICAB have made a ruling on 2 of the matters which Nagib Tajdin, without a hearing, or full submission, or providing all the rules, regulations, Farmans or the constitution to Nagib Tajdin to enable him to make all his submissions. .
In addition ICAB has ruled on only 2 of the matters, but not the rest.
1 Firstly whether DJI exists as a Body. ICAB have decided and ruled that ICAB do not have jurisdiction. ICAB have not seen any proof that DJI exists and even if they did they know there have been forgeries. So why did they not verify and have a proper hearing with all the evidence from DJI and Shafik Sachdina
2 Secondly on Forgeries - ICAB have unilaterally decided ICAB have no jurisdiction. And that Shafik Sachedina is accountable and answerable only to Hazar Imam. That means ICAB are saying Shafik, as a murid, is not even accountable or answerable to ICAB or LIF or DJI or the 16 institutions of which he claims to be the head or the Jamats who he serves ?. Where are the Farmans and the related institutional evidence & terms of references for ICAB to make this finding of fact ? Why did ICAB make a ruling when they say they have no jurisdiction?
3 The rulings on 2 of the matters are paradoxical and contradictory.
a. On the one hand they say they have no jurisdiction, but
b. On the other hand they have made a unilateral ruling without submissions from both the parties, or a hearing, or indeed a full ICAB Board meeting which they said was planned in October 2012.
4 ICAB neither have, nor have read all the Farmans or are following them, and therefore they are not following all the rules, their mandate and the ethics of our Faith. I attach a Leaflet of Farmans.
Any Farman can superseed, any rule or the constitution. Therefore having and reading all Famans is critical for all the parties,and especially our highest Judicial body - ICAB. Without that Justice cannot be, or be seen to be done.
5 The ICAB members said to be present at the meeting on 15th September 2012 were;
a. Noordn Nanji - Chairman
b. Zulie Sachedina,
c. Julie Nazerali,
d. Azim Virjee,
e. Khurshid Bhimani, and
f. Amin Jivraj
I refer to the rules regulations mandate, mission, objectives and terms of references for ICAB members and the Chairman. I attach the related Farmans and the articles by Mohammed Keshavjee and others.
I urge, and hope that the attached application for a review will be considered fairly and ICAB will be, and seen to be objective and just, also bearing in mind that they have before them serious allegations of forgeries, with evidence, which has far reaching impact and consequences for the Jamat and all our institutions including ICAB and its Board.


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