Sep 3, 2024
By: Prerna Tyagi
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In 2013, Benjamin Careathers, and a few others sued Red Bull because it didn’t give them wings! As a result, the company shelled out $13mn in compensation, and changed their signature to “Red Bull gives you wiiings” since there won’t be any dictionary meaning of “wiiings.”
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In the Indian city of Rajura, a parrot named ‘Hariyal’ was arrested by the police on the grounds of hurling the owner’s 85-year-old stepmother with expletives! The parrot was later handed over to the Forest Department for rehabilitation.
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“The summum bonum of the aforesaid-” This is how a judgement from a high court judge in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh began. The Supreme Court, equally baffled, had no choice but to send it back for a rewrite, hopefully with a thesaurus in hand.
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In a bizarre turn of events, a man, who was assumed dead, fought in court for 18 years to prove that he was alive! He even kidnapped his uncle’s son so that he would be arrested, in a quest to prove his identity.
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A petitioner took her heartbreak to the Punjab and Haryana High Court, demanding an arrest warrant for Prince Harry. Her allegation? He didn’t follow through on his "promise to marry" her.
Credit: TOI
In 2007, Judge Roy Pearson took his devotion to a new level. After a local dry cleaner allegedly lost his beloved trousers, Pearson didn't just demand a refund—he sued them for a whopping $67 million! His argument? The store's "satisfaction guaranteed" sign didn't deliver. The amount was later slashed to $53 million, but Pearson still lost the case when he couldn't prove the pants he got back weren't his.
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A West-Delhi resident sought Rs 50,000 in compensation, claiming he faced mental agony from watching Imtiaz Ali’s 2011 film Rockstar at a multiplex—because of the poor picture quality. The consumer forum dismissed his plea, noting he spent more on the complaint than on the movie ticket itself. Sometimes, the drama isn’t just on screen.
Credit: IMDb
In 1981, a German landlord evicted a tenant for stinking up the building with surströmming, a notoriously smelly fermented fish. The tenant claimed wrongful eviction, but the landlord had a simple defence: he opened a can of fish in court. Cue the gagging! The court quickly ruled in favour of the landlord, proving that sometimes, actions really do stink louder than words.
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A man employed by the city corporation of Lodi, California accidentally hit his own car by the corporation’s truck. He went on to sue the city for the damage that he was responsible for!
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