NBFC's Pending Amalgamation Application Not Enough To Claim It Meets NOF Requirement: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that a pending amalgamation proposal does not give a Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) a legal right to claim that it meets the prescribed Net Owned Fund (NOF) requirement when the amalgamation has not actually gone through.Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya observed that even if the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had approved Nadia Printing & Packaging Pvt Ltd's proposed amalgamation with five other companies, further steps would still have been...

Bombay High Court Restrains 'Bislie' Water Maker From Using Mark In Bisleri Trademark Suit

The Bombay High Court has temporarily restrained a Karnataka-based packaged drinking water manufacturer from using “Bislie”, finding the mark prima facie deceptively similar to Bisleri International's registered “Bisleri” trademark.Justice Madhav J. Jamdar was hearing an interim application filed by Bisleri International Private Limited against Belaguli Mahalingegowda Kirankumar, proprietor of Kalabyraveshwara Mineral Water Industry. The company sought an injunction against the manufacture,...

Bombay High Court Slaps ₹2.5 Lakh Costs On Mumbai Khadi Body For Breaching Order Barring Use Of 'Khadi' Mark

The Bombay High Court has held that the Mumbai Khadi & Village Industries Association (MKVIA) wilfully breached a 2022 injunction restraining it from manufacturing, selling, or advertising products under the “Khadi” mark and from using KVIC's Charkha logo or deceptively similar marks in the prohibited commercial context. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed, “MKVIA went on to do exactly what it wanted to do regardless of Injunction Order.”The court, however, declined to attach MKVIA's...

Builder Must Pay Delayed Possession Interest At Rate It Could Charge Allottee For Default: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court at Lucknow has recently held that the interest a builder must pay an allottee for delay in handing over possession under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, is the same rate that the builder could have charged the allottee had the allottee defaulted. Rejecting a builder's plea that its liability was confined to MCLR+1%, the Court upheld an award of interest at 24% per annum because the builder-buyer agreement itself provided for...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside ₹6.35 Crore Award Over Unilateral Arbitrator Appointment By Defence Ministry

The Delhi High Court has set aside a ₹6.35 crore arbitral award in favour of Goodrich Foodtech Ltd. in a dispute with the Ministry of Defence over contracts for supplying malted milk food with cocoa.Justice Subramonium Prasad held that the unilateral appointment of the arbitrator by the Union through its Competent Financial Authority was invalid under Section 12(5) read with the Seventh Schedule of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The court found that the authority was part of the...

General Body Approval Not A Formality In Housing Society Redevelopment: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that approval of a housing society's General Body cannot be treated as a mere formality in redevelopment, observing that members surrender possession of their existing homes and thereafter receive reconstructed flats.“Redevelopment permanently affects rights of all members because they surrender possession of their existing premises and thereafter receive reconstructed flats. Therefore, approval of the General Body cannot be treated as formality,” Justice Amit...

Civil Courts Cannot Injunct SARFAESI Measures; 'To Be Taken' Includes Future Action: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that civil courts cannot grant injunctions against measures already taken, or “to be taken," by banks under the SARFAESI Act.The court held that Section 34 of the SARFAESI Act imposes a wider bar on civil courts granting injunctions against any action taken or “to be taken” in pursuance of powers under the Act.“Whereas a suit or proceeding cannot be instituted if a notice under Section 13(4) of the SARFAESI Act, 2002 has been issued, the bar to grant of...

Andhra Pradesh High Court Declines To Interfere With SARFAESI Action, Cites Alternative DRT Remedy

Holding that a litigant with an effective statutory remedy before the Debts Recovery Tribunal cannot ordinarily invoke the High Court's writ jurisdiction, the Andhra Pradesh High Court dismissed a writ petition challenging a Canara Bank communication concerning unhypothecated machinery at an auctioned property. The decision was rendered by a Division Bench of Justice Battu Devanand and Justice A. Hari Haranadha Sarma. The court observed, "From the above factual position, it is evident that an...

Different Inks On Cheque Do Not Make It Invalid, Cast Doubt On Execution: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that a cheque cannot be treated as invalid merely because its signature and other particulars were written in different inks. Justice A. Badharudeen observed that there is no legal requirement for the date, amount, and signature on a cheque to be written in the same ink.“Merely because the signature was put by using one ink and entries were made by using another ink by itself would not make the negotiable instrument as an invalid document or a document to doubt its...

'Even The Bald Want A Haircut': Calcutta High Court Slams Borrowers' Repeated Bid To Sell Secured Assets

The Calcutta High Court has criticised borrowers of South Indian Bank for repeatedly seeking permission to sell all their immovable properties without the bank's interference, calling the attempts “commercially imprudent” and “mischievous”.A division bench of Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur and Justice Chaitali Chatterjee (Das) observed,“The repeated attempts of the borrowers to seek permission to sell all their immovable properties without any interference from the appellant bank is not only...

CA Certifying False Returns Can Be Prosecuted If Active Complicity, Mens Rea Shown: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that a Chartered Accountant certifying a false statutory return or e-form can face prosecution if there are specific allegations showing that the professional knowingly participated in the falsification or actively connived in it.Justice Uday Kumar was hearing a revision filed by the Registrar of Companies, West Bengal, against the discharge of practising Chartered Accountant Ranjan Meghani.“The proposition that an independent professional certifying a...

Bombay High Court Recommends Removal Of DRT Nagpur Presiding Officer, Finds He Lacks Basic Legal Knowledge

The Bombay High Court at Nagpur on Thursday recommended that the Union government immediately remove Presiding Officer Pankaj Kumar from the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Nagpur. The bench found him unfit to continue in office and noted his wilful disobedience of the court's directions.Justices Anil S. Kilor and Raj D. Wakode, while recommending his removal, observed that Kumar was unfit to continue in the position."...the present respondent is not suitable for adorning the post of...