Supreme Court Alone Can Decide Replacement Of Arbitrator It Appointed: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that once the Supreme Court appoints an arbitrator under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, any issue arising later that affects the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, including the arbitrator's recusal, withdrawal or substitution, can be decided only by the Supreme Court.A single-judge bench of Justice Suraj Govindaraj observed, "The appointment of the Arbitrator was not by the institutional mechanism of SIAC or from any consensual...

Delhi High Court Bars Unity Small Finance Bank From Considering Share Capital Increase Without BharatPe's Consent

The Delhi High Court on Friday held that Unity Small Finance Bank could not place before its board a proposal to increase its authorised share capital and amend its Memorandum of Association without the prior written consent of BharatPe, which owns a 49% stake in the bank. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted interim relief to BharatPe (Resilient Innovations Private Limited), holding that the proposal fell within "Reserved Matters" under the parties' Shareholders' Agreement (SHA)."If the SHA...

Requiring AI Companies To Obtain Multiple Licences For LLM Training Would Be Economically Unviable: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that requiring artificial intelligence (AI) companies to obtain licences from multiple sources to train Large Language Models (LLMs) would make their development economically unviable, while refusing to grant an interim injunction sought by ANI Media against OpenAI in its copyright infringement suit over ChatGPT. "The key to success of an AI model is to access the information in public domain. The development of LLMs and their success depends on availability of...

Punjab &Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Ludhiana Trader Accused Of ₹9.66 Crore Fake GST ITC Fraud

The Punjab & Haryana High Court has granted regular bail to a Ludhiana-based businessman accused of fraudulently availing Input Tax Credit (ITC) of nearly ₹9.66 crore under the GST regime.It observed that continued incarceration was not justified when the prosecution case was based primarily on documentary evidence.Justice Surya Partap Singh, while deciding the bail plea of Rohit Kumar Gupta, proprietor of Maa Steel, Ludhiana, noted that the petitioner had remained in custody for more than...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Arbitral Award Rejecting Spectrum Power's GST Refund Claim Against GAIL

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral award rejecting Spectrum Power Generation Limited's claim for refund of GST reimbursed to GAIL (India) Limited under a Gas Sale Agreement, holding that the award suffered from patent illegality.The court held that GAIL was required to independently establish that it had deposited GST and that the arbitral tribunal could not rely on disputed tax payment receipts without first deciding their admissibility.Justice Avneesh Jhingan observed, "In the...

Delhi High Court Restrains Copyright Holders From Issuing Groundless Infringement Threats Against TVS

The Delhi High Court on Thursday restrained the holders of two copyright registrations from issuing any further groundless threats of copyright infringement proceedings against TVS Motor Company over allegations that its engines, two-wheelers and three-wheelers used features covered by their registered literary works. Justice Jyoti Singh passed the ad interim order in a suit filed by TVS seeking, among other reliefs, a declaration that a cease-and-desist notice issued by Ram Chandra Maurya and...

Gujarat High Court Quashes Reassessment Based On Presumption Drawn From Sister Concern's 'On-Money' Collection

The Gujarat High Court has quashed reassessment proceedings initiated under the Income Tax Act, holding that a completed assessment cannot be reopened merely on the presumption that an assessee collected unaccounted cash ("on-money") from buyers over and above the recorded sale price because its sister concern was found to have done so. The court held that the reopening against Datta Projects was based entirely on presumptions and surmises, without any material linking the assessee to...

Order Quashing Notice To Dead Person Is Not A 'Finding' To Issue Fresh Notice To Legal Heirs: Allahabad HC

The Allahabad High Court on 23 July held that an order quashing a reassessment notice issued in the name of a deceased person as void ab initio cannot be treated as a “finding” or “direction” under Section 150(1) of the Income Tax Act, 1961. A Bench of Justices Shekhar B. Saraf and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary quashed the reassessment proceedings initiated against Smt. Asha Dubey, holding that the Income Tax Department cannot rely on an order quashing a notice issued in the name of a deceased...

Gujarat High Court Dismisses LANXESS Belgium's Writ Against Anti-Dumping Duty, Holds CESTAT Proper Forum

The Gujarat High Court on 7 July held that disputes concerning the methodology used by the Designated Authority to determine dumping and injury margins in anti-dumping proceedings must be raised before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), and not through a writ petition unless exceptional circumstances exist. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati dismissed the writ petition filed by Belgian exporter LANXESS Belgium N.V. challenging the...

Madras High Court Quashes ₹12.58 Cr Demand Against Pellagic Food, Upholds Advance Ruling Principles

The Madras High Court on 9 July quashed the Customs order passed against Pellagic Food Ingredients Pvt. Ltd. that raised a demand of Rs. 12.58 crore as differential customs duty, along with interest, confiscation of goods, redemption fine and penalties. A Single Judge Bench of Justice Hemant Chandangoudar held that Customs authorities should ordinarily follow the legal principles laid down in an Advance Ruling in similar cases, even though such rulings bind only the applicant who obtained them,...

Allahabad High Court Flags Loophole In Income Tax Law On Reassessment After Taxpayer's Death

While holding that a reassessment notice under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act cannot be issued in the name of a dead assessee, the Allahabad High Court at Lucknow recently observed that the Act contains a legislative lacuna because it leaves the Revenue unable to initiate reassessment proceedings where an assessee dies before a valid reassessment notice is issued. Holding that the gap could result in escaped income going untaxed and prejudice the public exchequer, the court observed that...

OpenAI's Use Of ANI Content To Train ChatGPT Is Not Prima Facie Copyright Infringement: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed Asian News International's (ANI) plea for an interim injunction against OpenAI in its suit alleging copyright infringement over the alleged use of ANI's content to train ChatGPT. Justice Amit Bansal held that "ANI has failed to make out a prima facie case for grant of interim injunction." Ruling on four issues framed in the suit, with findings on the first and third issues delivered together, the Court upheld its territorial jurisdiction to hear the case...