Arbitration | Mechanical Reliance On No Claim Certificate Is Non-Adjudication: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that mechanical reliance on a 'No Claim Certificate,' without examining whether the claims raised were covered by such document, amounts to non-adjudication.A Single Bench of Justice Gaurang Kanth in an order dated January 9 explained that the mechanical reliance on such certificates, without examining the surrounding facts and evidence, amounts to non-adjudication and renders the award vulnerable to challenge. The Court observed:“Even execution of a...

Karnataka HC Quashes GST Refund Rejection, Says Limitation Runs From Original Application, Not Revised Filing

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the rejection of a GST refund claim as time-barred, holding that the limitation period must be computed from the date on which the taxpayer originally applied for the refund and not from a revised application filed after a deficiency memo. The bench of Justice S R Krishna Kumar observed that, in the instant case, the refund application filed on July 4, 2024 was well within the prescribed limitation period and that a subsequent application filed pursuant to a...

Delhi High Court Lifts Injunction, Allows Zydus To Manufacture And Market Lifesaving Cancer Drug

The Delhi High Court on Monday cleared Zydus Lifesciences Limited to manufacture and market its cancer drug ZRC 3276. The court set aside an injunction that had barred the drug's launch over alleged patent infringement of a medicine owned by US-based pharmaceutical major E.R. Squibb. A Division Bench of Justice C Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla modified an earlier order passed by a single judge. The Bench held that Zydus could not be restrained from launching a life-saving...

Bombay High Court Quashes Special Audit Order For Want Of Mandatory DIN

The Bombay High Court has held that an approval for a special audit issued without a Document Identification Number (DIN) is invalid and deemed never to have been issued. A Division Bench of Justice B P Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh P Pooniwalla allowed a writ petition filed by assessee Sanjay Nathalal Shah and quashed a special audit ordered for Assessment Year 2023–24 . Relying on a CBDT circular issued in August 2019, which mandates that every communication, including statutory approvals,...

Slayy Point' YouTube Channel Creators Move Delhi High Court Over Alleged AI-Generated Deepfake Content

Digital content creators Gautami Kawale and Abhyudaya Mohan, who run the popular YouTube channel Slayy Point, have moved the Delhi High Court seeking urgent protection against the alleged creation and circulation of AI-generated, morphed and pornographic deepfake content falsely portraying them. The matter is scheduled to be heard on Tuesday before Justice Vikas Mahajan. In their plea, the creators said they are widely recognised public figures with significant goodwill and an online...

Stamp Duty Must Be Refunded If Sale Agreement Was Never Executed : Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that stamp duty paid for a property transaction that never went through must be refunded, even if the application is filed beyond the six-month limitation period under the law. A single-judge bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan said the state cannot keep money collected as stamp duty when no sale agreement was ever executed. “Stamp Duty is not a transaction tax but a duty payable on an instrument, which necessarily has to conform to the definition set out in...

Income Tax Dept Cannot Reopen Assessment on New Grounds Without Due Notice: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that the income tax department cannot reopen a completed assessment by raising new issues without first following the mandatory procedure under the Income Tax Act. On this basis, the court set aside the reassessment notice issued against a government-owned company. Under the tax law, Sections 148 and 148A require the department to first issue a detailed notice explaining why it believes income may have escaped tax, give the taxpayer an opportunity to...

Punjab and Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Company Director In Fraudulent ITC Availment Case

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has granted bail to a GST accused after noting the challenge that the grounds of arrest were not furnished in writing. The Court reiterated that failure to give written grounds violates statutory safeguards and weakens an accused's right to seek bail. Justice Surya Partap Singh granted bail to Baldeep Singh Sapra, Director of PMI Smelting Private Limited. He was arrested by the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) in a case alleging fraudulent...

No Substantive Review Maintainable Against Orders Appointing Arbitrators: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently ruled that only limited procedural correction and not a substantive review is permissible of orders appointing or refusing to appoint an arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.A single-judge bench of Justice S Manu said the law on arbitration is a self-contained code and does not permit courts to reopen such orders on merits, as that would slow down arbitration instead of speeding it up. The court cautioned that allowing substantive review...

“Tiger” Mark Common In Trade, Not Trademarkable: Delhi High Court Denies Relief To Farm Equipment Maker

The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim relief to an agricultural equipment maker that sought to stop a rival from using the word “Tiger” as part of its brand name for farm implements. In a judgment delivered on January 9, 2026, Justice Tejas Karia of the Delhi High Court held that the words “Tiger” and “Brand” are common to the trade and that no case of deceptive similarity was made out at the interim stage.The court observed, “As 'TIGER' and 'BRAND' are found to be generic and...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Trade Marks Registry Order Refusing Mankind Pharma's PETKIND Trademark

The Delhi High Court has overturned an order of the Trade Marks Registry refusing registration of Mankind Pharma Limited's trademark “PETKIND” for animal and agricultural products. The relief was earlier denied on the ground of similarity with an earlier “PETKIND” mark filed by Petkind Pet Products Inc.Justice Tejas Karia, by a judgment dated January 9, 2026, allowed the appeal filed by Mankind Pharma, holding that the refusal of the trademark was unjustified in view of the company's...

Special Court Cannot Hear Private Complaints In Companies Act Fraud Cases; Only SFIO Can File: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday held that a special court cannot entertain a private complaint in cases involving fraud under the Companies Act. It ruled that where an offence attracts punishment under the fraud provision, cognisance can be taken only on a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office or an authorised officer of the Central government. A Division Bench of Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice K Vinod Chandran held that offences under Section 448 of the Companies Act, which...