Delhi High Court Restrains Agro Orbit Hub From Selling Unauthorised Products Bearing UPL Trademarks

The Delhi High Court on 16 October temporarily restrained Agro Orbit Hub Pvt. Ltd. from selling products bearing UPL Limited's trademarks without authorisation and directed the platform to remove the disputed listings within 72 hours of receiving the order, besides disclosing details of the sellers and others involved in the supply chain. Justice Tejas Karia held that unauthorised use of registered trademarks to sell agrochemical products online can warrant an interim injunction where the...

Criminal Investigation Cannot Be Used To Exert Pressure In Commercial Disputes: M.P. High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 16 September held that criminal proceedings cannot be used to exert pressure in commercial disputes where allegations of fraud or diversion of funds do not disclose the essential ingredients of a criminal offence. A Bench of Justice Himanshu Joshi quashed an Economic Offences Wing (EOW) complaint and consequential inquiry against Power Mech Projects Limited arising from a contractual dispute with Mapaex Minerals over sand mining projects, holding that the...

Bombay High Court Allows USV Chairperson Leena Gandhi Tewari To Sue Over Fake Facebook Accounts

The Bombay High Court has granted USV Private Limited Chairperson Leena Gandhi Tewari permission to institute a suit against Meta Platforms Inc. and others seeking the removal of fake Facebook accounts allegedly impersonating her and inducing people to send money on promises of financial benefits. USV is a multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companyThe suit names Meta Platforms and seeks action against the accounts, with Tewari alleging that they misuse her identity, photographs and...

Arbitral Tribunal Cannot Reject One Party's In-House Witnesses While Accepting Opponent's: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that an arbitral tribunal cannot reject one party's evidence merely because its witnesses are company employees while accepting evidence from similarly placed in-house witnesses of the opposing party. Justice Arun R. Pedneker made the observation while setting aside a ₹2.16 crore arbitral award against Forech India Limited in favour of JSW Jaigarh Port Limited over defective conveyor belts. The Court held that the tribunal's unequal treatment of witnesses amounted...

Arbitral Tribunal Can't Award Compound Interest In Absence Of Stipulation In Contract: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that an arbitral tribunal cannot award compound interest, or interest upon interest, where the contract between the parties makes no provision for it. The Court held that while the tribunal retains the power to grant interest both for the period before the reference and for the pendente lite and future periods, the compounding of that interest is impermissible in the absence of a specific stipulation.Section 31(7)(a) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,...

Bombay High Court Allows Godwoman Radhe Maa To Pursue Personality Rights Suit Against Google

The Bombay High Court has granted Sukhwinder Kaur, popularly known as Radhe Maa, permission to institute a suit seeking protection of her personality rights and relief against alleged disparagement over online content.Justice Abhay Ahuja allowed her petition under Clause XII of the Letters Patent, holding that the proposed suit could be instituted before the Court.In an order dated October 9, the Court granted leave after considering the petition and the submissions made on Radhe Maa's behalf....

GST Authorities Must Give Taxpayers Reasonable Time To Furnish Audit Documents: Gujarat High Court

Tax authorities must inform taxpayers within a reasonable time if documents submitted for a GST audit are incomplete, the Gujarat High Court has held.“However, we are of the opinion that, where a registered person furnishes documents pursuant to a notice issued under Section 65 of the CGST Act but some documents remain outstanding, the tax authorities are required to inform the registered person of the missing or outstanding documents within a reasonable time, so that the audit can be completed...

Delhi High Court Protects Arjun Kapoor's Personality Rights Against AI Deepfakes, Unauthorised Merchandise

The Delhi High Court has made absolute its directions restraining the unauthorised commercial exploitation of actor Arjun Kapoor's name, image, likeness and other identifiable attributes, including through AI-generated content, deepfakes and merchandise.The Court has also directed the government's IT and telecom departments to take down specified infringing online links and allowed Kapoor to approach Meta and Google over subsequently discovered material.Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, in an...

Mere Invoices Can't Establish Jurisdiction: Himachal Pradesh High Court Denies Interim Relief In Patent Dispute

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ruled that merely producing invoices is not enough to establish territorial jurisdiction in a patent infringement dispute, refusing interim relief to SML Limited in its suit over agrochemical product ZeekaSulf.“Mere production of invoices, as detailed hereinabove, would not be sufficient to conclude territorial jurisdiction of this Court to entertain the instant application,” Justice Sandeep Sharma observed.The court noted that four alleged purchases of...

Arbitral Award Does Not Merge With Civil Court Order: Madhya Pradesh High Court Holds Execution Plea Time-Barred

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ruled that the doctrine of merger does not apply to arbitral awards, meaning the 12-year limitation period for executing an award runs from the date it becomes enforceable and not from a subsequent court order.“No appeal is provided against arbitral award, and therefore, no question of merger of arbitral award into any order passed by the civil court is made out. It cannot be accepted that the award merged into the order passed by civil court. These are...

Delhi High Court To View Hindi Film Doosra In Sourav Ganguly's Personality Rights Case

The Delhi High Court has directed the makers of the Hindi film Doosra to arrange a screening before the Court to assess whether it infringes former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly's personality rights. The direction came on Friday, a day after the Court refused to stay the film's scheduled theatrical release. Justice Vinod Kumar directed the makers of the film to file their written statements and replies to the injunction application before the next hearing. The Court said the...

Timely Reassessment Notice Cannot Cure Invalid Income Tax Sanction: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has quashed a tax reassessment, ruling that a timely notice to a taxpayer cannot cure an approval obtained from the wrong authority. The court held that the tax department could not rely on the time given to the taxpayer to respond to a reassessment notice to justify the sanction granted by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax.The tax department argued that excluding this period meant the approval granted by the Principal Commissioner of Income-tax was valid. The court...