In the calendar period 1998-2001, I made an investment of Rs 72,000 in response to an ad, inviting new authors to come forward with their submission. The ad was inserted by a British publisher, incorporated in India. The publishing company evaluated the manuscript and decided that it merited publication. It promised 45 per cent royalty till my outlay was recovered and 25 per cent afterwards till as long as the book was in demand. This was what they termed co-publication. The book was released and I received 15 complimentary copies in April 2001. After that, there has been no response from them despite several reminders. I have written to the respective High Commission in New Delhi and the Deputy High Commission in Calcutta. What can I do now?

T.K. Ray,
Ranchi, Jharkhand

You have to file a suit for accounts in the appropriate court having pecuniary and territorial jurisdiction. Since the ad was issued in this country, you should not have any problem in regard to establishing that the cause of action, wholly or in part, has arisen here. The issue of jurisdiction will also be settled if the publishers received in this country the payment made by you. You should file a copy of the agreement wherein the percentage with respect to royalty and other terms and conditions were specified. Your claim should be in the form of a detailed statement incorporating the relevant figures, including a statement of the outlay made by you and relevant correspondence exchanged during this period. In case you have information of the number of books sold by them, pricing, money received on account of such sale and the like, that should be made a part of your statement of claim.