Flat Owners Can't Restrict Common Facility Access When Sale Deed Allows Sharing: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on 9 July held that flat owners cannot claim exclusive rights over common amenities where the registered sale deed permits residents of different phases of a housing project to share such facilities. A Division Bench of Justices Jayant Banerji and Tara Vitasta Ganju dismissed the appeal filed by the owners of a flat in the “Arya Hamsa” project and upheld the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Appellate Tribunal orders allowing residents of the neighbouring...

Madras High Court Holds Later Clarifications Cannot Take Away 7% Drawback On Bus Bodies, Quashes Denial

The Madras High Court on 30 July held that Customs authorities cannot deny exporters the benefit of a beneficial drawback circular through later clarifications unless the original circular granting the concession has been withdrawn, quashing orders rejecting 7% brand rate drawback claims on the bus body portion of exported passenger buses. Justice Hemant Chandangoudar allowed the petitions filed by Ashok Leyland Limited and set aside the revisional orders dated 8 March 2022 and the CBEC...

Delhi High Court Holds NITI Aayog Payments Cannot Alter Award Rules, Directs NHPC To Pay HCC ₹16.39 Cr.

The Delhi High Court on 28 July held that interim payments released under NITI Aayog's relief scheme for construction contractors during the pendency of challenges to arbitral awards cannot alter the legal method of adjusting payments once the award attains finality. Justice Subramonium Prasad directed National Hydro Electric Power Corporation Ltd. (NHPC) to pay Rs. 16.39 crore to Hindustan Construction Co. Ltd. (HCC) after adjusting the amounts already paid under the scheme, holding that such...

Delhi High Court Holds Future O&M Claims Beyond Scope, Partly Quashes Louis Berger-COWI JV Award

The Delhi High Court on Monday, 3 August, held that an arbitral tribunal cannot award operation and maintenance charges for services that had not fallen due on the date of the award. Justice Avneesh Jhingan partly allowed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)'s petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and partly set aside an award granting Rs. 5.16 crore and USD 60,769 with interest to The Louis Berger Group Inc.-COWI A/S joint venture. He held: ...

Can An Arbitrator Appoint An Advocate Commissioner To Collect Evidence? Kerala High Court Says No

The Kerala High Court has ruled that an arbitral tribunal cannot appoint an Advocate Commissioner to collect evidence by invoking its power to grant interim measures under Section 17 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.Justice Easwaran S observed that Section 17 cannot be used to circumvent the limits imposed by Sections 26 and 27 of the Act. "Merely because Section 17 provides power to the arbitrator to grant interim relief, he cannot bypass the prohibition under Section 26 and grant...

Bombay High Court Allows NSEIL Plea Against Fairwealth Financial Services, Lifts Corporate Veil

The Bombay High Court on 29 July held that courts can lift the corporate veil where a company's separate legal identity is used as a cloak for fraud and misappropriation of investor funds.Justice Gauri Godse allowed an interim application filed by the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSEIL), directing Fairwealth Financial Services Ltd. to disclose its assets and restraining it from transferring or encumbering them after finding prima facie evidence of its involvement in the alleged...

Financial Crisis Reasonable Cause To Waive Service Tax Penalty: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on 27 July held that penalties under the Finance Act, 1994 cannot be imposed where a taxpayer proves a genuine financial crisis as a reasonable cause for delayed payment of service tax, ruling that a Tribunal's finding of financial incapacity based on material on record cannot be interfered with in appeal. A Division Bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and N. Mala dismissed two appeals filed by the GST and Central Excise Department against the CESTAT order that waived...

Madras High Court Quashes Reassessment Against Stock Broker Over Misreading Client Funds As Income

The Madras High Court on 31 July held that reassessment proceedings cannot be initiated merely on the basis of suspicion arising from a misunderstanding of a stock broker's business model, ruling that client funds received by a broker in a fiduciary capacity cannot be treated as the broker's own income without tangible material. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan dismissed the Revenue's appeal against the Income Tax Appellate...

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Dismisses MSME Supplier's Writ, Cites MSMED Act Remedy

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has ruled that it would ordinarily not exercise its writ jurisdiction under Article 226 where an MSME supplier has an equally efficacious statutory remedy under the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (MSMED Act). Dismissing a petition filed by a registered micro enterprise seeking recovery of alleged outstanding dues, the court held that no exceptional circumstances had been made out to justify bypassing the statutory...

Punjab and Haryana High Court Quashes ₹59.77 Lakh Stamp Duty Demand Initiated Beyond Limitation

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on 15 July held that proceedings for recovery of deficient stamp duty cannot be initiated after the expiry of the statutory limitation period, and that stamp duty liability must be determined based on the market value and nature of the property as they existed on the date of execution and registration of the sale deed. Justice Kuldeep Tiwari allowed a writ petition filed by Sandeep Singh and another and set aside the orders passed by the Collector and the...

IBC Amendment Removing Interim Moratorium For Personal Guarantors Applies To Pending Cases: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that a recent amendment removing the automatic interim moratorium available to personal guarantors to corporate debtors under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code applies even to pending insolvency proceedings.Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed that the amendment, which took effect on May 26, 2026, applies to pending proceedings and operates retroactively, not retrospectively. Rejecting the guarantors' argument that the change applies only to fresh filings, the...

State Gets No Special Leeway In Delay Condonation Under Arbitration Act: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on 30 July held that government bodies are not entitled to any special concession under Section 34(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and that the State and private parties are subject to the same standard for proving “sufficient cause.” A Division Bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary dismissed an appeal filed by the railway authorities against the Commercial Court's refusal to condone a 28 day delay in filing objections to an arbitral...