High Court
Patna High Court Imposes ₹25,000 Costs On Taxpayer For Challenging GST Undertaking After Accepting Its Benefits
The Patna High Court, in the facts of the case, has held that a taxpayer who voluntarily furnishes an undertaking to obtain relief from GST authorities cannot subsequently challenge its validity after accepting the benefits flowing from it. It dismissed the writ petition filed by Umagaurav Private Limited and imposed costs of ₹25,000.A division bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Kumar Manish held that the petitioner, having secured the removal of restrictions on its bank account...
Gujarat High Court Faults CESTAT For 'Difficult To Decipher' Remand Order In Customs Classification Dispute
The Gujarat High Court has recently set aside a CESTAT order remanding a customs classification dispute, questioning how the tribunal directed the adjudicating authority to re-examine CBEC circulars despite an earlier Gujarat High Court judgment requiring the Union of India to undertake that exercise."We fail to understand how the Tribunal, in the facts of the present case, adopted the very same directions and remanded the matter to the Adjudicating Authority to re-look into the said Circulars,...
Bombay High Court Upholds ITAT Order, Says Tata Power's Broadband Trial Run Income, Scrap Sale Not Taxable
The Bombay High Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by the Income Tax Department against The Tata Power Company Ltd. It held that income from trial runs of its broadband project and the sale of scrap generated before the project's installation were capital receipts not liable to tax.Observing that income generated before the commencement of business that is "inextricably connected with the setting up of a capital asset" is capital in nature and serves to reduce the cost of construction,...
Gujarat High Court Upholds Rule Requiring Agricultural Science Degree For Agricultural Land Valuers
The Gujarat High Court has recently upheld the constitutional validity of the requirement that applicants seeking registration as valuers of agricultural land must possess a degree in Agricultural Science. It held that the qualification bears a rational nexus with the object sought to be achieved under Rule 8A of the Wealth Tax Rules, 1957, and does not violate Articles 14 or 19 of the Constitution. "We find neither any ambiguity in the impugned provision nor any inconsistency between the...
Court-Recorded Compromise In Arbitration Dispute Can Be Executed: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High court has held that a compromise recorded while disposing of proceedings under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is executable. It observed that a party which voluntarily enters into a settlement, secures its benefits and invites the court to pass an order in terms of the compromise cannot later contend that the order is unenforceable.Justice T.R. Ravi said, "After having arrived at a settlement and having invited the court to pass an order in terms of the...
GST Cannot Be Deducted From Compensation For Compulsory Land Acquisition: Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court has recently quashed the deduction of Goods and Services Tax (GST) from compensation awarded for compulsory acquisition of land, holding that such acquisition is not a "supply of goods or services" under the GST law."An immovable property cannot at any stretch of imagination is construed as goods. Therefore, there is neither supply of goods nor services, but an expropriation of the property of a citizen using statutory power. The petitioner has neither sold any goods nor...
Delhi High Court Sets Aside Refusal Of Patent For Cancer Drug Combination, Orders Fresh Review
The Delhi High Court has set aside the refusal of a US company's patent application for a pharmaceutical combination used to treat proliferative diseases, including colorectal cancer.Holding that the Deputy Controller's findings on inventive step and patentability under Sections 3(d) and 3(i) of the Patents Act could not be sustained, the court remanded the matter for fresh consideration. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela rejected the objection under Section 3(i), observing, "It is clear that claim 1...
Madras High Court Grants Relief To Zee Against Apprehended Copyright Infringement Of 'Bhootam Bhayam' Film
The Madras High Court has temporarily restrained internet service providers and cable TV operators from infringing Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited's copyright in its Marathi film Bhootam Bhayam, which was released on July 24The court observed that "irreversible injury" could occur unless apprehended unlawful broadcasts were prevented.Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed the order on two applications filed by Zee Entertainment in a suit alleging apprehended infringement of its copyright in the...
Order Requiring Deposit Of Entire Arbitral Award For Stay Not Appealable: Rajasthan High Court
The Rajasthan High Court has held that an order directing a party to deposit the entire arbitral award amount as a condition for staying enforcement of the award is not appealable under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Holding that Section 13 of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, does not create an independent right of appeal, the bench observed, "As an upshot, we hold that an order passed under Section 36(3), whether granting stay unconditionally, conditionally, or refusing it, is not...
Income Tax Amendment Of 2012 Allowing Officers To Dispute Any Property Value Not Retroactive: Gujarat High Court
The Gujarat High Court ruled that the 2012 amendment to Section 55A(a) of the Income Tax Act, which expanded the Assessing Officer's power to refer capital assets for valuation, cannot be applied retrospectively.The court ruled that assessments relating to the period prior to 1 July 2012 would continue to be governed by the unamended provision and, on that basis, quashed a reassessment notice issued to the assessee.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati passed...
Calcutta High Court Quashes GST Order, Says Notices Uploaded In 'Additional Notices' Tab Not Valid Service
The Calcutta High Court has set aside an ex parte GST adjudication order after holding that the taxpayer was denied a fair opportunity to respond to the show cause notice due to improper service of notices on the GST portal.It observed that the show cause notice, reminder, and adjudication order were uploaded only in the "Additional Notices and Orders" tab of the GST portal and not in the "Normal" tab. Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya held that such uploading does not amount to valid...