Delhi High Court Refuses To Quash Reassessment Against Homebuyer Over Alleged Cash Payment To Builder

The Delhi High Court has refused to interfere with reassessment proceedings initiated against a taxpayer after documents seized from real estate group Bhutani Infra allegedly reflected a cash transaction linked to a flat purchase.A Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar observed that the notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act cannot be termed as without jurisdiction at the threshold.The petitioner/taxpayer had argued that the sole basis for reopening the...

Madras High Court Allows US Inventor's Late Patent Examination Request Despite Indian Agent's Error

The Madras High Court has directed the Indian Patent Office to accept and process a request for examination filed by a US-based inventor, holding that a patent application cannot be treated as abandoned due to an inadvertent mistake by a patent agent. The court ruled that in the absence of any intention to give up the invention, such procedural lapses should not defeat substantive rights. Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on December 18, 2025, while disposing of a writ petition filed...

Use of Tissue Culture Technology Does Not Bar Tax Exemption On Agricultural Income: Telangana High Court

The Telangana High Court has held that income earned from the sale of tissue-cultured plants qualifies as agricultural income and is therefore exempt from income tax, though advanced scientific techniques are used in their cultivation. The Bench of Justices P Sam Koshy and Narsing Rao Nandikonda heard a case where the assessee (appellant), who was engaged in the business of micropropagation of plants through tissue culture technology, claimed that the income from the same was exempt from tax as...

Madras High Court Quashes CESTAT Chennai Order For Deciding Issues Not Under Appeal

The Madras High Court has pulled up the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai for overstepping its mandate, quashing its order and holding that the Tribunal cannot decide issues that were never appealed before it. A Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi said that although Section 129-B of the Customs Act, 1962 confers wide powers on the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, those powers are not unbridled."It is true that Section...

Jharkhand High Court Scraps 'Net Charges' Formula For Electricity Duty Levy, Flags Excessive Delegation

The Jharkhand High Court on Monday struck down a proviso introduced by a state amendment to the Bihar Electricity Duty Act, 1948 that allowed electricity duty to be levied as a percentage of consumers' “net charges”. The court held that the legislature had delegated its taxing power to the executive without laying down any policy guidance. It further held that empowering the state government to fix electricity duty on a value-based formula, without prescribing standards or limits, amounted to...

Bombay High Court Refuses Interim Relief To Minco India Against Group Company Over 'MINCO' Mark

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused to grant interim relief to Minco India Private Limited in a trademark dispute over the use of the word “MINCO”. The court held that the company had suppressed material facts and had allowed the rival firm to use the name since at least 2012 without objection. Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh dismissed an interim application seeking to restrain Minco India Flow Elements Private Limited from using “MINCO” as part of its trade name. The court found that the...

Can Service Tax Be Levied On Transfer of Development Rights? Delhi High Court To Decide

The Delhi High Court on Monday took up a Revenue appeal that squarely raises the question of whether the transfer of development rights constitutes a taxable service under the Finance Act, 1994. A Division Bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul issued notice in an appeal filed by the Service Tax Department against an order of the Delhi Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT), which had quashed a service tax demand of nearly Rs 5 crore raised on a real estate...

Software Ownership Disputes Involving IPR Not Arbitrable: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has recently held that an arbitral tribunal was right in refusing to decide who owns a software product, saying such questions involve intellectual property rights that affect the public at large (rights in rem) and cannot be settled through private arbitration.A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Sandeep V Marne said that deciding ownership of the “Test Magic” software would inevitably involve ruling on trademark and copyright rights, which are not meant for arbitration. The...

Bombay High Court Temporarily Bars Salon From Using 'Jawed Habib' Marks After Franchise Expiry

The Bombay High Court has temporarily restrained a local salon operator from using the “Jawed Habib”, “Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty” and “JH” names and logos, holding that their use after the end of a franchise agreement amounts to prima facie trademark and copyright infringement.A single-judge Bench of Justice Sharmila U Deshmukh passed the ad-interim order on January 6, 2026, in favour of the popular hair salon franschise Jawed Habib Hair & Beauty Limited. The restraint will...

Delhi High Court Dismisses 'Luxury Litigation' Over Debt Assignment, Reaffirms NCLT Power To Probe Fraud

The Delhi High Court has dismissed what it described as “luxury litigation” challenging a debt assignment, saying issues of fraud or the existence of debt must be decided by the insolvency tribunal, not a civil court. A single-judge bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav rejected the suit at the threshold, holding that it was a “mala fide attempt” built on “clever drafting” to derail proceedings under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The court imposed costs of Rs 2 lakh, saying the case...

High Courts Cannot Exercise Parallel Contempt Jurisdiction Over NCLT In IBC Cases: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday held that contempt petitions alleging breach of orders passed by the National Company Law Tribunal in insolvency cases cannot be filed directly before the High Court. A single-judge bench of Justice Milind N Jadhav said that once contempt powers are conferred on the NCLT by law, the High Court should not exercise parallel jurisdiction. “Hence, once such contempt jurisdiction is vested in the tribunal, this court ought not to exercise parallel contempt...

Bombay High Court Imposes ₹15 Lakhs Cost On Anrose Pharma For Infringing 'ZERODOL' Trademark

The Bombay High Court has held that Anrose Pharma's adoption and use of the trade mark 'ZEROVOL-P' in respect of pharmaceutical products amounted to a clear case of infringement and passing off of IPCA Laboratories Limited's registered trade mark 'ZERODOL'. The Court observed that in matters involving medicinal products, a stricter standard of comparison is required, as even a likelihood of confusion poses a serious risk to public health. Justice Arif S. Doctor was hearing a commercial...