Gujarat High Court Bars Vimal Oil Reassessment Over Past Tax Liability, Cites IBC Clean Slate Principle

The Gujarat High Court on 30 June quashed reassessment proceedings against Vimal Oil and Foods Ltd., holding that the Assessing Officer cannot reopen an assessment of a company sold as a going concern under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) on mere assumptions without verifying whether any income had actually escaped assessment. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati allowed the batch of writ petitions filed by the company and quashed the notice issued under...

GST Refund Interest Must Run From Original Application Date After Illegal Rejection: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court on 2 July held that GST authorities cannot deny interest on refunds by treating a refund application filed pursuant to a Court order as a fresh application, ruling that where the original rejection of a refund claim is set aside as illegal, interest under Section 56 of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act (which provides for interest on delayed refunds) must be calculated from the date of the original refund application. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia...

Delhi High Court To Hear Vedanta's Appeal Against Refusal Of Gujarat Offshore Oil Block PSC Extension On Monday

The Delhi High Court on Thursday agreed to hear on Monday Vedanta Ltd.'s plea for interim relief in its appeal challenging the July 22 judgment upholding the Union Government's decision rejecting the company's application for a ten-year extension of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for an offshore oil and gas block in Gujarat. After briefly hearing the parties, a division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta posted the matter for Monday, when it will consider Vedanta's...

IBC Moratorium Won't Extinguish Directors' Criminal Liability For Cheque Bounce: Punjab & Haryana HC

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on 20 July held that the moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) cannot extinguish a director's criminal liability for dishonour of cheques issued before commencement of insolvency proceedings against the company. Justice Manisha Batra dismissed a petition filed by Ajay Gupta seeking quashing of proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (NI Act) for cheque dishonour, holding that subsequent insolvency and...

Kerala High Court Allows Handwriting Test Of Disputed Cheques In PTB Chits Cheque Dishonour Cases

The Kerala High Court on 29 June held that an accused facing prosecution for cheque dishonour under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 cannot be denied an opportunity to seek expert handwriting examination of a disputed cheque when the complainant specifically claims that the accused personally filled the cheque entries.Justice G. Girish considered petitions filed by PTB Chits Private Limited and its directors challenging orders of the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court,...

Right To Cross-Examination Cannot Be Denied Over Unretracted GST Statements: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on 8 July held that GST authorities cannot reject a taxpayer's request to cross-examine witnesses merely because the witnesses have not retracted their earlier statements, observing that cross-examination is necessary to test the truthfulness of evidence relied upon during adjudication. Justice A.A. Ziyad Rahman passed the order while allowing the writ petition filed by Emas Gold and Diamonds LLP against a GST adjudication order passed following an investigation by the...

Delhi High Court Restrains Delhi Restaurant From Using 'LAMA KITCHEN' Mark

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained a Delhi-based restaurant from using the trademark "LAMA KITCHEN" or any deceptively similar mark after holding that the registered proprietors had made out a prima facie case of trademark infringement and passing off.Justice Jyoti Singh observed that the balance of convenience lay in favour of the Himachal Pradesh-based proprietors of the registered "LAMA KITCHEN" marks. The court held that they were likely to suffer irreparable harm if the...

Madras High Court Grants ITC Refund To Vindhya Spinning Mills, Says Same Input Rate Can't Deny Relief

The Madras High Court on 14 July held that Goods and Services Tax (GST) authorities cannot deny a refund of unutilised input tax credit (ITC) under the inverted duty structure merely because the principal input and the finished product attract the same rate of tax, if other inputs used in manufacturing are taxed at higher rates, leading to accumulation of ITC. Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy allowed two writ petitions filed by Vindhya Spinning Mills Private Limited, quashed the refund...

Gujarat High Court Quashes ₹41.53 Cr Excise Notice Against Jindal Saw, Backs Finality Of HPC Certificates

The Gujarat High Court on 15 July quashed a Rs. 41.53 crore central excise recovery notice issued to Jindal Saw Ltd., holding that the Commissioner of Central Excise had no jurisdiction to question eligibility certificates issued by the High Powered Committee under the exemption notification. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati held that allegations of fraud or misrepresentation in obtaining such certificates could only be examined by the statutory committee that...

Karnataka High Court Clears Release Of 'BOSS' Movie, Rejects Darshan's Plea Over Renukaswamy Murder Case Similarities

The Karnataka High Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by actor Darshan Srinivas (Darshan Thoogudeepa) and his wife Vijayalakshmi challenging the refusal to temporarily restrain the release of the Kannada film BOSS. The court held that the existence of certain similarities between the film and the pending trial relating to the alleged murder of Renukaswamy, in which the actor is facing trial as an accused, was by itself not sufficient to justify an interim injunction. Justice Pradeep...

'Piracy Must Be Dealt With A Heavy Hand': Delhi High Court Grants Sony Relief Against 14 Rogue Websites

The Delhi High Court has observed that rogue websites engaged in piracy of copyrighted content pose a recurring threat and must be dealt with "a heavy hand." It has granted an ex parte ad interim injunction restraining 14 websites, including Cricgo.pro, from communicating, hosting, streaming or otherwise making available without authorisation any part of the Commonwealth Games 2026 and the Australian Open 2027, over which Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited holds exclusive broadcast and...

Delhi High Court Restrains Former JK Paper Employees From Using Company's Confidential Report

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained former employees of JK Paper Limited from using or employing the company's confidential and proprietary "Purta/Purtha" report after the company alleged that members of its IT department resigned together, took proprietary data belonging to it and later set up a new business.Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani observed that the forensic report relied upon by JK Paper would have to undergo scrutiny before it could be relied upon. Even so, the court held...