No Excise Duty On Liquor Destroyed In Accidental Fire Without Negligence: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 4 August held that excise duty cannot be levied on foreign liquor destroyed in an accidental fire where the loss occurred due to an unavoidable cause and there is no evidence of negligence or deliberate wrongdoing by the licensee.A Single Judge Bench of Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke dismissed the State's writ petition and upheld the Board of Revenue's order setting aside the Rs. 38.41 lakh excise duty demand, finding that the factual conclusions were supported by...

GST Department Cannot Retain Seized Records After Withdrawing Search Authorisation: Madras High Court

On 5 August, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court held that the GST Department cannot retain files and documents seized during an inspection once it withdraws the search authorisation under which the seizure was made, and directed the immediate return of all records taken from a jewellery dealer. A Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan allowed the writ petition filed by Bhima Enterprises and noted that the Department lost its statutory authority to retain the seized material after withdrawing...

Delhi High Court Orders Takedown Of Allegedly Disparaging Content In Actor Tabu's Personality Rights Suit

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed intermediaries to take down specified online URLs hosting content that actor Tabu alleged was defamatory, pornographic, or otherwise violative of her personality rights. The court also indicated that it would appoint an amicus curiae to examine broader issues arising in such cases.Justice Jyoti Singh, hearing the matter with Senior Advocate Swati Sukumar appearing for Tabu, considered content identified by the actor across social media platforms,...

Natural Justice Can't Be 'Sheet Anchor' To Bypass GST Appeal Remedy: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High court has ruled that a taxpayer cannot bypass the statutory appellate remedy under the GST law and directly invoke writ jurisdiction merely by alleging a violation of the principles of natural justice.Holding that such pleas must be supported by specific facts, the court observed, "Taking refuge under natural justice in every case, as a sheet anchor would not justify filing of a Writ Petition under Art. 226, sans justification in the manner the law mandates. This more...

Delhi High Court Asks Income Tax Department To Explain 13-Year Delay In Releasing Seized Jewellery

The Delhi High Court has directed the Income Tax Department to file a “comprehensive affidavit” explaining the 13-year delay in releasing jewellery seized from an assessee.The Department informed the Court that the jewellery had now been released and assured that the balance refundable amount, along with applicable interest, would be paid within four weeks.However, the Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta sought to know from the Assessing Officer, the reasons for the...

Plea In Delhi High Court Challenges GST Demand Notices Based On Uncorrected Return

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday heard a petition challenging GST demand notices allegedly issued on the basis of an uncorrected return, despite the petitioner's claim that revised returns had been considered during audit proceedings.The division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain was hearing a plea filed by an engineering design consultant company.Senior Advocate Puneet Agrawal for the Petitioner-company submitted that while filing its GST return for the financial year 2014–15, a...

Delhi High Court Allows Exporter To Approach GST Authorities For Interest On Refund

The Delhi High Court has permitted an exporter to approach the GST authorities for payment of interest on an allegedly delayed refund under Section 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.The division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain was hearing a petition filed by a lithium-ion battery recycler, which is engaged in the export of unwrought cobalt powder used in scrap batteries.Petitioner submitted that it had applied on January 22, 2022, for refund of ₹31.44 lakh...

Delhi High Court To Examine CAAR's Power To Void Customs Advance Rulings

The Delhi High Court has admitted an appeal that will examine when the Customs Authority for Advance Rulings (CAAR) can declare an advance ruling void from the outset on the ground that it was obtained through misrepresentation of material facts. The appeal arises from the CAAR's exercise of its powers under Section 28K of the Customs Act, 1962, to declare the appellant's August 6, 2025, advance ruling void ab initio.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain was hearing an...

Delhi High Court Frames Guidelines To Distinguish 'Mental Acts' From Patentable Inventions

The Delhi High Court has proposed a set of guidelines designed to help patent examiners differentiate between abstract human thought and genuine technical innovations.A bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on August 4, 2026 clarified when a method should be considered a "mental act," which cannot be patented under Indian law and when it constitutes a technical implementation, that deserves protection under the Patents Act, 1970. The decision followed an appeal by T-Mobile International against the...

Kerala High Court Refuses To Quash Cheque Dishonour Complaint Over Defect In Cause Title

The Kerala High Court has held that a cheque dishonour complaint cannot be quashed merely because the authorised representative's name appears before the complainant society's name in the cause title. Holding that such an objection was only technical, the court observed, "As held by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Bhupesh Rathod's case (supra), such a defect, if at all, is merely technical and cannot defeat an otherwise maintainable prosecution." Justice C.S. Dias delivered the ruling while...

Gujarat High Court Rejects Plea Against Tribunal Order Granting VAT Exemption For Seeds Used For Sowing

The Gujarat High Court has dismissed the State's plea against Western Agri Seeds Ltd., ruling that the state failed to prove the company's seeds were not used for sowing and were therefore outside the scope of the Value Added Tax exemption notification. "The petitioner Department has miserably failed to prove before us that the seeds which are procured by the respondents are not used for sowing purposes," the court observed while upholding the Gujarat VAT tribunal's decision to quash...

Bombay High Court Pulls Up Masala Maker For Only Paying 'Lip Service' To Trademark Injunction

The Bombay High Court has ruled that cosmetic changes to a trademark cannot be used to sidestep an injunction. Observing that merely paying "lip service" to a court order would undermine its purpose, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan ruled that Abaad Masala & Co.'s revised branding failed to maintain the required "safe distance" from Sky Enterprise Private Limited's registered marks. The court observed, "Interim orders can be rendered ineffective if there is lip service to the prohibitions...