Salman Khan settles legal dispute with gym equipment company

According to Bar and Bench, the disagreement began when Salman Khan entered into a trademark licensing agreement with Jerai Fitness through his brand Being Strong. The collaboration began in 2018, was revised in 2019, and renewed again in August 2023 with a new contract.

Jerai was permitted to manufacture, market, and sell gym equipment using the Being Strong brand name under this deal. In return, the company was required to pay either Rs 3 crore annually or 3% of its net sales, whichever was higher.

Salman later claimed that Jerai had failed to pay dues amounting to Rs 7.24 crore. This included a one-time settlement of Rs 1.63 crore for payments pending before March 2023, along with royalties for the following years.

After several instances of delay in payment, Salman approached the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in Mumbai, seeking to initiate a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) against Jerai Fitness.

However, Jerai Fitness refused all allegations and countered that it was actually Salman who had not fulfilled his part of the contract.

The company alleged that the actor delayed approvals for product designs and promotional materials, and even skipped the launch of its new ‘Proton’ series at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in November 2023.

Jerai also showed WhatsApp messages and email exchanges showing repeated requests to Salman Khan’s team for approvals and branding assistance. The company further argued that the invoices cited by Khan were raised only after it had issued a termination notice in September 2024—set to take effect in April 2025—and therefore could not serve as grounds for an insolvency plea.

On May 30, the NCLT dismissed Salman's Section 9 petition. The Tribunal noted that while the Rs 1.63 crore settlement for the earlier period was an undisputed liability, the rest of the royalty claim involved a genuine, pre-existing disagreement regarding Khan’s performance under the contract.

The NCLT observed, “The right to receive payment under the said agreement in relation to minimum guarantee accrues only when the user is enabled to use such trademark in the form and manner contemplated.”

It concluded that the dispute fell within the scope of recovery proceedings, not insolvency resolution under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).

Later, on October 6, Salman Khan’s legal team informed the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) that both parties had signed consent terms to resolve the matter.