Kerala High Court Quashes Composite GST Notices Issued to Actor Honey Rose

The Kerala High Court on Monday refused to set aside composite GST show cause notices and assessment orders issued to actor Honey Rose Varghese and several other taxpayers, holding that it was bound by earlier Division Bench rulings requiring separate proceedings for each assessment year. Allowing the batch of petitions, Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. observed that there was no stay on the earlier orders of the court and was therefore bound by it. “In this case, evidently, no stay is also obtained...

Delhi High Court Imposes ₹50,000 Costs On Patent Owner For “Unnecessary Litigation”

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to allow Pawan Kumar Goel to withdraw his patent infringement suit over a patented process for extracting Alpha Yohimbine, a plant-derived compound used in dietary supplements, and imposed costs of Rs. 50,000 for “unnecessary litigation.” Justice Tushar Rao Gedela declined Goel's request under Order XXIII Rule (1)(3)(b) of the Code of Civil Procedure seeking permission to withdraw the suit with liberty to institute a fresh suit on the same cause of...

Writ Courts Cannot Force NBFCs To Regularise NPAs After SARFAESI Notice: Keral High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that courts cannot compel banks or Non-Banking Financial Companies to regularise loan accounts classified as Non-Performing Assets. Such directions cannot be issued once proceedings under the SARFAESI Act have been initiated especially diregarding the specific stand taken by NBFC. Setting aside an order granting instalment relief to a defaulting borrower, a Division Bench of Justices Anil K. Narendran and Muralee Krishna S. held: “When the...

Pro Volleyball League Dispute: Madras High Court Upholds ₹4 Crore Award Against Volleyball Federation Of India

The Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with an arbitral award directing the Volleyball Federation of India to pay Rs.4 crore as loss of profits to Baseline Ventures, the former promoter of the Pro Volleyball League, holding that the federation's termination of the 2018 agreement was unjustified. Justice N. Anand Venkatesh held that the award dated November 21, 2020 “does not suffer from any perversity or patent illegality warranting the interference of this Court." The Court...

Punjab and Haryana High Court Sets Aside ₹5.18 Crore Arbitral Award Against Aditya Birla Fashion

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside a Rs. 5.18 crore arbitral award passed in favour of landlord Dayanand and against Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited in a dispute arising from a 2018 warehouse fire, holding that the award was contrary to the express terms of the lease deed and suffered from patent illegality. “By awarding sum to compensate the losses arising from under valuation of the property, for the purposes of insurance, the Arbitrator has virtually re-written the...

Public University Data Can Be Used If Not Disparaging: Delhi High Court Lifts Injunction Against EdTech Site

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday set aside a trial court order restraining an education-technology start-up from using the names, information, and details of two universities on its website, holding that it has a right to use publicly available information so long as it is not presented disparagingly. A single-judge bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri held that the respondents were “unable to make out a prima facie case” and termed it “an unconvincing argument” that rankings displayed on the...

Only Commissioner Can Decide If Delay In Income Tax Refund Is Attributable to Taxpayer, Not AO: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that the question whether delay in processing TDS refund is attributable to the assessee/taxpayer, for the purpose of denying interest under Section 244A(2) of the Income Tax Act, can be decided only by the Principal Commissioner/Commissioner and not by the Assessing Officer (AO).A Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar observed,“Looking at the language used in sub-section (2) of Section 244A of the Act of 1961, we are of the firm opinion...

Surviving Joint Holder Cannot Claim Ownership Of Bank Locker Contents After Co-Holder's Death: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently clarified that the “either or survivor” clause in a joint bank locker agreement, which ordinarily allows the surviving holder to operate the locker after the other's death, does not confer ownership rights over its contents. “The concept of the entitlement of one of the joint holders to have a right over the money, which is deposited in the joint account or fixed deposit, is entirely different and cannot be applied to the case of a bank locker,” the Court...

Expiry Notice To Unauthorized Agent Not Compliant With Trade Marks Act: Delhi High Court Allows Renewal Of 8 Marks

The Delhi High Court has permitted renewal of eight trademarks after holding that expiry notices sent to an unauthorized agent do not amount to compliance with the Trade Marks Act.Justice Tushar Rao Gedela ruled that issuing notices to a person who was no longer authorised does not satisfy Section 25(3) of the Trade Marks Act. “The fact that the notices contemplated under Section 25(3) of the Act and RG-3 notices were issued to a person who, as on the date of issuance of such notices, was not...

Baba Ramdev Approaches Delhi High Court Over Deepfakes, Seeks Protection of Personality Rights

Yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved co-founder Baba Ramdev has moved the Delhi High Court on Tuesday (February 17) seeking protection of his personality rights. The matter was listed before Justice Jyoti Singh and was briefly heard. It has now been kept for further hearing on Wednesday. Ramdev seeks an injunction against the unauthorised use of his name, likeness, voice and distinctive style of discourse on digital platforms. The plea targets “John Doe” defendants allegedly using artificial...

Madras High Court Warns Against Mechanical Notices, Orders Decision On 14-Year-Old Cancer Drug Patent

The Madras High Court on 12 February observed that the Intellectual Property Office cannot mechanically issue notices or summons whenever pre-grant patent oppositions are received, warning that such an approach makes it “very easy to defeat the rights” of patent applicants. Justice N. Anand Venkatesh issued directions in a case involving a 14-year-old patent application filed by Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V. for a cancer drug. Noting that by “postponing the same for one reason and the other”...

Audit Objection Alone Cannot Justify Reopening Of Income Tax Assessment Without Fresh Material: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Monday held that a completed income tax scrutiny assessment can't be reopened merely on the basis of an audit objection when no fresh tangible material has come to the Assessing Officer's notice.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Vinod Kumar observed,“reopening the assessment on the basis of the objections of the Audit Party, shall in the above facts, amount to reviewing the assessment already made, as the relevant material was available with the...