Company's Name Change Cannot Defeat Execution Of Decree Against It: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has recently held that a change in a company's name does not affect the enforceability of a decree, holding that procedural law cannot be used to defeat substantial rights.Justice Lalitha Kanneganti made the observation while dismissing a writ petition filed by Lilly Labels challenging execution proceedings in a money recovery case brought by Sajawat Industries Ltd.“A change in the name of a company does not result in the creation of a new Juristic entity. The legal...

MSME Council Cannot Decide Post-Award Enforcement Disputes: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 6 August, held that a Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council becomes functus officio after passing an arbitral award and cannot thereafter adjudicate disputes concerning enforcement of the award or determine whether the awarded amount has been fully paid. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice D.N. Ray modified a Single Judge's order directing the Madhya Pradesh MSME Facilitation Council to reconsider Mahakali Foods Pvt. Ltd.'s...

CPC Applies To Court Proceedings Arising From Arbitration Unless Excluded: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court on 6 August held that while the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (CPC) does not bind arbitral tribunals, it applies to court proceedings arising from an arbitral award unless expressly excluded. A Division Bench comprising Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Ramesh Chand Malviya set aside a Commercial Court order dismissing the Bihar State Warehousing Corporation's challenge to a Rs. 5.99 crore arbitral award after it cured a Rs. 245 court fee deficit 62 days beyond the...

Delhi High Court Upholds Rejection Of Esteve Pharma's Tramadol-Celecoxib Co-Crystal Patent

The Delhi High Court on 7 August dismissed an appeal filed by Esteve Pharmaceuticals S.A. against the rejection of its patent application for a co-crystal of tramadol and coxibs. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela held that the claimed invention lacked inventive step under Section 2(1)(ja) of the Patents Act, 1970, as the prior art documents, when read together, rendered the invention obvious. He held: “Therefore, reading of the prior art…which discloses the combination of tramadol and celecoxib as a...

Madras High Court Orders Provisional Release Of Vimpro Tech Goods Pending Adjudication

The Madras High Court on 5 August held that pendency of a Customs investigation by itself cannot be a ground to deny provisional release of imported goods when Section 110A of the Customs Act, which specifically permits provisional release of detained goods subject to conditions, applies. Justice Hemant Chandangoudar set aside the Customs order rejecting Vimpro Tech's request for provisional release and directed the authorities to release the goods subject to conditions, while allowing the...

Kerala High Court Grants Wild Planet ITC Benefit, Says Delay Cannot Defeat Statutory Right

The Kerala High Court on 28 July held that a taxpayer cannot be denied the statutory benefit of input tax credit (ITC) under Section 16(5) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act merely because it failed to file a rectification application within the deadline prescribed by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Justice Ziyad Rahman A.A. allowed the petition filed by Wild Planet Pvt. Ltd. and set aside the order denying the company ITC, holding that Section 16(5)...

Telangana High Court Upholds ₹43.48 Crore CST Demand Against Mahindra & Mahindra For Inter-State Sales

The Telangana High Court on 5 August held that movement of vehicles from Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.'s Zaheerabad manufacturing unit to its regional sales offices in other States constituted inter-State sales under Section 3(a) of the Central Sales Tax Act, 1956. A Division Bench comprising Justices P. Sam Koshy and Narsing Rao Nandikonda upheld a tax demand of around Rs. 43.48 crore, and dismissed two writ petitions filed by the company. It observed: “...It is not necessary, for a...

No Supply Of Service In Building Plan Sanction Process, GST Cannot Be Levied: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has held that Goods and Services Tax (GST) cannot be levied on charges collected for sanctioning a building plan, as the process does not involve any supply of goods or provision of services. Justice R. Nataraj on 21 July, partly allowed a petition filed by Sai Sravanthi Infra Projects Pvt. Ltd. and others against the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and other authorities, holding that the authorities lacked statutory authority to impose several charges while...

Officers Representing Union Of India Cannot Independently Challenge Award: Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court on 10 August held that officers or representatives appearing for the Union of India in arbitral proceedings cannot independently challenge an arbitral award under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, merely because they represented the Union during the proceedings. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal dismissed an appeal filed by officers of the South East Central Railway, holding that where an...

Patna High Court Quashes Reassessment Based On Bank's Wrong Reporting Of ₹12.50 Lakh FD As ₹12.50 Cr

The Patna High Court on 10 August quashed income tax reassessment proceedings against Satya Narayan Jha after Union Bank of India wrongly reported his fixed deposit of Rs. 12.50 lakh as Rs. 12.50 crore to the Income Tax Department, holding that the Department had relied on incorrect information. A Division Bench of Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Ramesh Chand Malviya held that the notice issued under Section 148A(b) of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which requires the taxpayer to be given an...

Why Can Scammers Access Meta's Copyright Strike Tool While Creators Are Denied? Delhi High Court Asks

The Delhi High Court has asked Meta to place on record its policy, guidelines, and eligibility criteria for access to its "Rights Manager" tool, questioning why the anti-plagiarism tool is not available to content creators with large followings while scammers appear to be getting access to it.Rights Manager is a Meta tool that allows content creators and rights holders to identify when their original content is copied or uploaded by another person and take action against the matching...

Delhi High Court Grants Khushi Kapoor Relief Against Unauthorised Merchandise, Obscene Content

The Delhi High Court has indicated it will order the takedown of links carrying obscene and pornographic content and links selling unauthorised merchandise bearing actor Khushi Kapoor's persona. Even as the court left the larger dispute over "fan pages" open for a later hearing, Justice Jyoti Singh confined today's relief to unauthorized merchandise sales and obscene or pornographic content.Kapoor, described in the plea as an actress and fashion icon, moved court against unknown persons,...