Delhi High Court Rejects Reddy Pharmaceuticals' Review Plea In 'REDDY' Trademark Dispute With DRL

The Delhi High Court on 14 August dismissed a review petition filed by Reddy Pharmaceuticals Ltd., refusing to revisit its earlier judgment upholding a permanent injunction restraining the company from using the mark “REDDY” and directing removal of its registered trademark from the Register of Trade Marks. A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla held that none of the errors alleged by Reddy Pharmaceuticals (RPL) constituted an “error apparent on the...

Delhi High Court Rejects Trademark Appeal Over “DIGESTO PLUS”, Says Mark Common To Trade

The Delhi High Court on 20 August dismissed an appeal filed by Hahnemann Scientific Laboratory India Pvt. Ltd. against Meera Rastogi, trading as Hahnemann Memorial Laboratory, in a trademark dispute over the use of the mark “DIGESTO PLUS”. A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora held that the word “DIGESTO” is common to the trade and cannot, by itself, establish deceptive similarity between competing marks. It observed: “The commonality of the descriptive...

Calcutta High Court Rejects Injunction Against New Central Book Agency After Years Of Inaction

The Calcutta High Court on 27 August dismissed an interim injunction application filed by Pares Chandra Das, author and original copyright holder of two English grammar textbooks, and his son Amitava Das, against their long-time publisher, New Central Book Agency Private Limited. Justice Krishna Rao held that authors cannot seek an interim injunction against continued publication of their books after allowing the publisher to publish them for years despite claiming that the publication...

Madras High Court Rejects Film Archive's Copyright Claim Over 'Aval Appadithan' Production Stills

The Madras High Court on 27 August dismissed an appeal filed by The Cinema Resource Centre, a Chennai-based film archive, in a copyright dispute over production photographs from the 1978 Tamil film Aval Appadithan. A Division Bench of Justices P. Velmurugan and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi upheld the 2021 order of a Single Judge directing the archive to return the original photographs, delete their digital and physical copies, and stop displaying them on its website. The judges observed: “The...

Bombay High Court Orders ₹3.14 Cr Pre-Deposit To IBM, Says Pending Appeal Can't Affect Dropped Demand

On 28 August, the Bombay High Court held that a taxpayer cannot be denied refund of the GST pre-deposit corresponding to a tax demand that has already been set aside, merely because it intends to challenge the remaining demand before the GST Appellate Tribunal. A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and Sandesh D. Patil allowed IBM India Pvt. Ltd.'s petition challenging the rejection of its claim for refund of Rs. 3.14 crore. The judge held:“It is pertinent to note that under the erstwhile...

Can Stamp Duty Proceedings Continue Beyond 6 Years? Bombay HC Single Judge Refers Issue To Larger Bench

On Friday, 28 August, a Single-Judge Bench of the Bombay High Court referred to a Larger Bench the question whether proceedings to recover deficit stamp duty under Section 53A of the Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 must be completed within six years, or whether it is sufficient for the proceedings to be initiated within that period. Justice Amit Borkar was hearing a writ petition filed by Sahyog Homes Ltd. and another, challenging an order passed by the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority directing...

Delhi HC Sets Aside Single Judge's Arbitrator Appointment In International Arbitration, Says SC Has Power

On 20 August, a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court set aside a Single Judge's order appointing a retired Supreme Court judge as sole arbitrator to resolve disputes between August Purple Services Private Limited, Axis Trustee Services Limited and other parties, after both sides agreed that the arbitration was an international commercial arbitration. Justices C. Hari Shankar and Vinod Kumar observed that an arbitration becomes an international commercial arbitration where one of the parties...

Future Revenue Share Can Be Consideration For Stamp Duty On Development Agreement: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 24 August held that a landowner's agreed share in future sale proceeds can be treated as consideration for determining stamp duty on a development agreement, even if the exact amount is not known when the agreement is executed. Justice Amit Borkar dismissed Star Developers' petition challenging the demand for deficit stamp duty, holding that the 42% revenue share agreed to be paid to the landowner could be considered while determining the market value of the transaction...

Karnataka High Court Restrains Sale Of 386.541 MT Cashews, Says Arbitration Orders Bind Strangers

On 27 August, the Karnataka High Court granted interim protection to UAE-based cashew trading company COAF FZE over 386.541 metric tonnes of raw cashew nuts lying in 15 containers at New Mangalore Port, restraining UAE-based supplier Avanikailani Commodities LLC, Indian cashew trader Sindhu Cashew India Pvt. Ltd. and two individuals claiming rights over the cargo from selling, transferring, diverting or otherwise dealing with it.Justice M.G.S. Kamal held that an interim order preserving the...

Chhattisgarh HC Upholds ₹37.74L Compensation To Accident Victim's Mother, Says No Tax Deduction Below ₹5L

The Chhattisgarh High Court on 20 August held that income tax need not be deducted while calculating motor accident compensation if the deceased's income falls within the Rs. 5 lakh limit eligible for rebate under Section 87A of the Income Tax Act. Justice Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal upheld the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal's decision not to deduct tax from the deceased's annual income of Rs. 4,34,970, including 50% towards future prospects, and dismissed his mother's appeal seeking enhancement of...

Bombay High Court Upholds ₹1,198 Crore Indian Oil Tender, Says CVC's 80% Rule Cannot Apply Mechanically

The Bombay High Court on 21 August upheld Indian Oil Corporation Limited's (IOCL) Rs. 1,198 crore all India tender for Retail Visual Identity (RVI) works, noting that the Central Vigilance Commission's (CVC) guideline referring to 80% of the estimated cost cannot be mechanically applied to the aggregate value of a tender. A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad rejected challenges to the requirement that bidders must have completed a single...

Arbitration Act Sec. 11(6) Is Default Provision, Can't Override Agreed 3-Member Tribunal: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court on 20 August held that Section 11(6) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is a default provision that can be invoked only when parties are unable to secure the appointment of an arbitrator through the procedure agreed upon in their contract, and cannot be used to replace an agreed three-member tribunal with a sole arbitrator. Justice Jaspreet Singh dismissed S. H. Infratech Pvt. Ltd's petition seeking appointment of a sole arbitrator, holding that where a party...