In an ex-parte interim order recently, Sonipat civil judge AK Aggarwal said "the defendant (DCW Home Products) is directed to maintain status-quo regarding selling, mortgaging, leasing the brand name, "Captain Cook", till the next date."

DCW, last month, announced that it has decided to sell the brand name to Corn Products, a subsidiary of US-based $8.4-billion Bestfoods Inc.

The court order came on a petition filed by a flour supplier to DCW, Trinetra Builders, which claimed that they had a three-year contract for supply of atta under the brand name of "Captain Cook".

The petitioner contended that according to the agreement between DCW and Trinetra, the defendant has no right to sell, lease, mortgage its brand name till the expiry of the contract on May 31, 1999.

Trinetra also charged DCW of withholding payments worth Rs 31 lakh and not liftingwheat-flour manufactured by the petitioner.

The flour supplier has also served a winding-up notice to the defendant under Section 434 of the Companies Act, 1956, and will seek winding up of DCW Home Products if it fails to respond to the notice within 21 days.

Under the agreement, Trinetra cannot manufacture atta for any other company during the contract period, while DCW was supposed to buy a minimum of 200 metric tonnes of atta per month. The case will come up for further hearing on September 24.

Corn Products Company sources said they were not buying the atta business of DCW, but added that the company cannot now market atta under the Captain Cook brand name.

Corn Products will buy the salt division and one of DCW'salt plants at Gandhidham. The branded-salt market, which is pegged at seven lakh tonnes, is valued at Rs 280 crore.

Industry sources, who put sales of Captain Cook Salt at Rs 75 crore, said that sell out is in line with the company strategy of exiting consumer-goods business.

CornProducts' parent company, Bestfoods, does not have salt in its product portfolio elsewhere in the world.

The core business of Bestfoods International revolves around Hellmann's mayonnaise and salad dressings, Knorr soups and sauces, Skippy peanut butter and desserts, Best foods dressings, Mazola corn and Canola oils and Pot noodle instant-hot snacks.