No GST On Liquidated Damages For Breach Of Contract: Karnataka High Court Quashes SCN

The Karnataka High Court held that liquidated damages recovered for breach or delay in contractual obligations are compensatory in nature and do not constitute consideration for any supply under GST. Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar examined whether the amount paid as compensation by the Lending Service Provider (LSP) to the assessee constituted 'liquidated damages' and whether such amount was taxable under the provisions of the CGST Act. In the case at hand, the assessee/petitioner was...

S.148A Income Tax Act | Gujarat High Court Quashes Reopening Of Assessment, Says AO Conducted Roving Inquiry Despite Being Given All Details

The Gujarat High Court quashed proceedings reopening the assessment of a man whose income had allegedly escaped assessment, after noting that despite the assessee explaining all banking transaction details, the assessing officer had travelled beyond the law and conducted a roving inquiry. For context, Section 148A of the Income Tax Act pertains to conducting of inquiry by assessing officer before he issues notice to assesee in cases where income has escaped assessment. The petitioner...

Income Tax Act | Gujarat High Court Quashes S.153C Assessment As Time-Barred, Rejects Revenue's Reliance On S.153(6)(i)

The Gujarat High Court quashed assessment order as well as a demand notice issued to an entity under Section 153C Income Tax Act after noting that the assessment order was issued invoking Section 153(6)(i) was beyond the limitation period. The petitioner had moved the high court for quashing Assessment Order dated 30.04.2024 as well as the demand Notice dated 30.04.2024 for the Assessment Year 2011-12. It was contended that the assessment order passed by the respondent was clearly barred by...

Arbitral Award Holder Must Return Amount Withdrawn From Court After Insolvency Resolution: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that where an arbitral award passed against a company is under challenge, and the company later successfully comes out of insolvency, the award holder cannot retain money withdrawn from court deposits if the claim itself is wiped out under an approved resolution plan. The court said such amounts must be returned, as the award itself no longer survives. A single-judge bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan, in an order dated December 17, 2025, allowed an interim...

Delhi High Court Rejects Zydus Plea Against Helsinn's Nausea Medication Patent

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with the grant of a pharmaceutical patent for a nausea medication dismissing a challenge by Zydus Healthcare Ltd. against Swiss drugmaker Helsinn Healthcare SA The court held that the Patent Office committed no jurisdictional error and did not violate principles of natural justice while granting the patent. In a judgment dated December 24, 2025, Justice Tejas Karia clarified that a pre-grant opposition and the examination of a patent application...

Bombay HC Restores IMAX's Enforcement Of Foreign Awards Against E-City, Holds Res Judicata Bars Re-Agitation Of Limitation At Later Stage

The Bombay High Court has recently restored enforcement proceedings initiated by IMAX Corporation for execution of foreign arbitral awards against E-City Entertainment (I) Pvt Ltd for breach of contractual obligations, holding that the doctrine of res judicata applies even between different stages of the same enforcement petition. The court said it cannot revisit an objection of limitation merely because subsequent judgments may have taken a different legal view. A Division Bench ...

Gujarat High Court Upholds CESTAT's Order Rejecting Plea To Restore Delay Condonation Application Filed After 7 Yrs

The Gujarat High Court upheld an order of the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal which had dismissed a cooperative society's plea seeking restoration of its condonation of delay application on the ground that it was filed after an inordinate delay of 7 years.The court noted that the petitioner had not provided any explanation for such delay except that it was facing a financial constraint and thus could not track the proceedings before the tribunal, observing that the...

Mere Interest In Project Does Not Justify Impleadment Of Non-Signatory In Arbitration Without Contractual Participation: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court dismissed a writ petition holding that mere financial or consequential interest was insufficient to implead a non-signatory in the arbitration proceedings unless the stringent tests as laid down by the Supreme Court which include participation in the negotiation, performance or termination of contract were satisfied. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel observed: “Merely because the petitioner had a substantial interest in the subject matter of the contract, the same...

Delhi High Court Bars Use Of “IGBC” Name Over Similarity With US Green Building Council Mark

The Delhi High Court has permanently restrained Mumbai-based Deming Certification Services Private Limited from using the marks “International Green Building Council,” “IGBC,” or any deceptively similar to the mark of U. S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The court held that the use infringed the registered trademarks of the USGBC, a non-profit organisation that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation, and provides green building certification services. It...

Transfer Pricing | Comparables With Non-Export Operations Can't Be Benchmarked Against Export-Only Assessee: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that companies engaged in activities beyond export services cannot be treated as functionally comparable to an assessee providing export-only services.A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar thus upheld exclusion of such entities for the purpose of transfer pricing analysis qua an assessee engaged in providing investment advisory services to its Associated Enterprises (AE) in Mauritus.The Court was dealing with the Income Tax...

Buyer Cannot Reject Goods After Putting Them To Use: Bombay High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Against Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing

The Bombay High Court dismissed a petition under section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 ("Arbitration Act"), holding that once goods are put to use by the buyer, such conduct amounts to deemed acceptance under section 42 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 ("SOGA"), the buyer cannot later reject the goods on the ground of alleged defects. A claim for damages can be filed for breach of warranty but goods cannot be rejected, the court ruled. Justice Sandeep V. Marne refused ...

Gujarat High Court Grants Relief After Transfer Pricing Objections Were Mistakenly Filed Before Wrong Authority, Quashes Final Assessment

The Gujarat High Court recently granted relief to a company which had inadvertently filed its objections to a proposed transfer pricing adjustment for Assessment Year 2022-23 before the jurisdictional assessing officer instead of filing it before the faceless authority.The petitioner had sought quashing of final Assessment Order dated 02.05.2025 passed under Section 143(3) read with Section 144C (3) and Section 144B of the Income Tax Act, for Assessment Year 2022-23. The petitioner...