High Court
Calcutta High Court Sends ITC Trademark Suit To Mediation, Says FIR First Weakened Urgency To Claim Waiver
The Calcutta High Court has refused to dispense with pre-suit mediation for ITC Limited's proposed trademark infringement and passing off suit against SMM Tobacco Private Limited. The court found that ITC had chosen to pursue the criminal remedy first while keeping its civil remedy in abeyance, even though both remedies could have been pursued simultaneously. Justice Arindam Mukherjee on September 8 directed that the plaint be returned for being filed after completion of pre-suit mediation...
Delhi High Court Grants Temporary Injunction Against Unauthorised Use Of Bentley Software
The Delhi High Court has passed an ad interim injunction in favour of Bentley Systems, a US-based infrastructure software provider, restraining a structural design services firm and its directors from allegedly infringing copyright in its engineering software.Justice A. J. Bhambhani passed the order on a suit filed by Bentley Systems Inc and its Indian subsidiary.The software programmes at issue in the case are RAM Concept, iTwin Analytical Synchronizer, iTwin Services Add-in, and STADD. The...
Kerala High Court Keeps Coercive Proceedings Against KHFL RP In Company-Related Criminal Cases In Abeyance
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday directed authorities to keep coercive proceedings against the Resolution Professional of Kerala Housing Finance Limited (KHFL) in abeyance in cases concerning the company. It, however, clarified that proceedings against the other accused can continue.Justice G. Girish passed the interim order on a petition filed by P.D. Vincent, the Resolution Professional of KHFL, which was admitted into the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) by the NCLT Kochi in...
Delhi High Court Clarifies 2023 Order Restraining FabIndia Trademark Infringement Covers Social Media
The Delhi High Court on 2 September clarified that its 4 December 2023 restraint order protecting FabIndia's trademark also applies to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter/X and other social media platforms, after the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) declined to enforce the order against the platforms on the ground that they were not specifically named. Justice A. J. Bhambhani passed the order in FabIndia's suit alleging infringement of its trademark,...
Karnataka High Court Retains Ozone Urbana Buyer & ED Cases, Quashes Contractor's Criminal Proceedings
The Karnataka High Court on 21 September held that criminal proceedings cannot be used to recover alleged dues arising from a purely civil dispute, while refusing to quash proceedings against Ozone Urbana Infra Developers Private Limited and its office bearers over home buyers' complaints alleging non-delivery of flats, diversion of project funds and other financial irregularities. Justice M. Nagaprasanna quashed the proceedings arising from a contractor's complaint alleging non-payment for...
Writ Against Order U/S 37 Arbitration Act Not Barred By Second Appeal Restriction: Orissa High Court
The Orissa High Court on 21 September held that a writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution can be maintained against an order passed by a District Judge under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, despite Section 37(3) barring a second appeal. Justice B.P. Routray rejected the preliminary objection to the maintainability of the writ petitions filed by the state and other, holding that the High Court's constitutional jurisdiction does not constitute a...
Income Tax Act | AO Can't Demand 'Negative Evidence' Of No Appeal For Immunity From Penalty: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that an Assessing Officer (AO) cannot require an assessee to furnish “negative evidence” to establish that no appeal has been filed against an assessment order while considering an application for immunity from penalty under Section 270AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961.The Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta made the observation while setting aside an order passed by the AO rejecting an application filed by Petitioner seeking immunity from...
Patna High Court Grants Interim Protection To Bihar Power Co. Against ₹29.23 Crore Tax Demand
The Patna High Court on 22 September temporarily protected Bihar State Power (Holding) Company Limited from coercive recovery of an income tax demand of Rs. 29.23 crore. A Division Bench comprising Justices Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Sunil Dutta Mishra directed the Assessing Officer/Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT), as the case may be, to consider the company's application for interim protection within six weeks. Until then, no coercive recovery action can be taken against the company. The...
Delhi High Court Grants Medical Bail To Former Reliance Executive Amitabh Jhunjhunwala PMLA Case
On 22 September, the Delhi High Court granted regular bail to former Reliance executive Amitabh Jhunjhunwala in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case concerning the alleged diversion and layering of Rs. 15,933.65 crore through shell and group entities. Justice Madhu Jain granted the bail on medical grounds, holding that he fell within the expression “sick or infirm” under Section 45(1) of the PMLA. The Bench held: “Having regard to the totality of the circumstances, this Court is...
Foreign Arbitral Tribunal Interim Relief May Fail In India Without Direct Enforcement: Bombay High Court
On Tuesday, 22 September, the Bombay High Court held that interim relief granted by a foreign arbitral tribunal may be rendered ineffective in India where there is no direct mechanism to enforce such an order. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata allowed an appeal by Singapore-based Sunfield Global Pte Limited against Liberty Investments Private Limited, set aside a Single Judge's order refusing interim protection and directed Liberty to secure Sunfield's admitted USD...
Delhi High Court Issues Notice To Trade Marks Registrar Over Delay In Deciding MakeMyTrip's Well-Known Mark Plea
The Delhi High Court has issued notice on a petition filed by MakeMyTrip India Limited seeking a direction to the Registrar of Trade Marks to decide its pending application to have "MakeMyTrip" declared a well-known trademark.The petition was filed after the application remained undecided for over six years. Justice Vikas Mahajan passing the order on September 21, recorded: “Ms. Nidhi Raman, CGSC who is present in Court has been asked to accept notice. Let Ms. Raman seek instructions.”MakeMyTrip...
Delhi High Court Rejects Challenge To GST Rule Making Supplier Tax Payment A Condition For ITC
The Delhi High Court has rejected a challenge to the constitutional validity of Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, which makes payment of tax by the supplier a condition for availing Input Tax Credit (ITC).The Division Bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain held that the provision has already been upheld by the Supreme Court and that a recipient seeking ITC must establish, through cogent material, that the tax charged on the supply was actually...