Delhi High Court Directs SBI To Refund ₹83.41 Lakh Foreclosure Charges To Campari Exports

The Delhi High Court on 15 September directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to refund Rs. 83.41 lakh deducted from the account of Campari Exports Private Limited towards foreclosure charges. Justice Jasmeet Singh allowed a petition filed by Campari Exports challenging the deduction and held that SBI could not impose foreclosure charges that were not specifically provided for in the loan agreements. The Bench observed: “It is a basic requirement of a valid contract that its terms and conditions...

Calcutta High Court Quashes ₹1.68 Crore GST Demand Against SREI Equipment Finance After CIRP

The Calcutta High Court on 1 October allowed SREI Equipment Finance Limited's petition and quashed the Rs. 1.68 crore GST demand raised for alleged excess availment of integrated goods and services tax (IGST) input tax credit on imported goods for FY 2021-22. Justice Aryak Dutt held that tax authorities cannot initiate or continue proceedings for pre-resolution plan dues that were not lodged during the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), as approval of the resolution plan...

Delhi High Court Declares “DS Group” And Logo Well-Known Trademarks

The Delhi High Court has declared the DS Group trademark and its corresponding logo as well-known trademarks. It also permanently restrained five people and entities sued over a website that allegedly offered fake distributorships of Rajnigandha, the group's popular mouth-freshener brand.Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav passed the judgment on September 25 in a suit brought by DS Intellectual Properties LLP and Dharampal Satyapal Limited, the companies that hold rights in the DS Group and...

Calcutta High Court Quashes Pre-IBC Resolution Income Tax Proceedings Against Binani Cement

The Calcutta High Court has quashed income tax notices, orders, and proceedings relating to the period before UltraTech Cement took over management of Binani Cement under an approved IBC resolution plan. The Court held that claims not forming part of the resolution plan could not survive after its approval.The Court also directed the Income Tax Department to refund amounts adjusted against such pre-transfer tax demands, along with applicable interest.Justice Smita Das De was dealing with a writ...

Trade Mark Agent Authorisation Must Be Stamped Like Power Of Attorney: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has recently ruled that an authorisation allowing a trade mark agent to represent an applicant before the Trade Marks Registry must be stamped under the applicable Stamp Act, holding that the document has “all the trappings of a power of attorney”.Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas held that the authorisation creates a right for the agent to represent another person."The authorisation prescribed under section 145 of the Act read with rule 19 of the Rules, is certainly an...

Bombay High Court Restrains Unauthorised Use Of Actor Samantha Prabhu's Persona, Orders Takedowns

The Bombay High Court has recently granted actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu ad-interim protection against AI-generated deepfakes, morphed and pornographic content, chatbots impersonating her and unauthorised merchandise using her name and likeness.Justice Madhav J. Jamdar passed the order on October 1, finding a “very strong prima facie case” for restraining the unauthorised use of Prabhu's persona and directing the removal or disabling of access to the infringing content.Prabhu and her team...

No Timeframe For Cancelling Duplicate PAN Can Cause Hardship To Taxpayers: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that the absence of a prescribed timeframe for deciding applications seeking cancellation of duplicate Permanent Account Numbers (PANs) may cause hardship to taxpayers, particularly in relation to filing Income-Tax Returns and availing services linked to PAN.The Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia was dealing with a PIL seeking directions to the authorities to prescribe a timeframe for deciding applications for...

Delhi High Court Quashes Section 153C Income Tax Order, Says Satisfaction Note Was Recorded After Limitation Period

The Delhi High Court has quashed a tax assessment against a company, holding that proceedings initiated on the basis of material found during search proceedings were barred by limitation.The Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Aditi Choudhary observed that the satisfaction note in the case was recorded on June 25, 2021, corresponding to AY 2022-23, whereas the impugned order dated March 30, 2023 concerned AY 2010-11.Petitioner argued that the impugned order had been passed beyond the...

Punjab & Haryana High Court Lays Down Guidelines For ITC Reversal Where Supplier Fails To Deposit GST

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the constitutional validity of Section 16(2)(c) of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act but held that the provision cannot be used mechanically to make a purchasing dealer reverse input tax credit (ITC) merely because the selling dealer failed to deposit tax with the government.A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor held that Section 16(2)(c), read with Section 155, cannot be treated as a...

Gujarat High Court Rejects Writ Plea, Finds GST Officer Was Authorised To Verify Vehicle Carrying Goods

The Gujarat High Court has rejected Shreeji Steel's writ challenge to GST confiscation proceedings after finding that the officer who physically verified its vehicle was authorised under Rule 138B of the CGST Rules.A bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati also held that the company had an alternative statutory remedy of appeal under Section 107 of the CGST Act. The court observed, “Upon examination of the documents on record, we find that there is no violation of the said...

Gujarat High Court Upholds ₹23.77 Crore Income Tax Relief For Adani Infrastructure Services

The Gujarat High Court has ruled in favour of Adani Infrastructure Services Pvt. Ltd., upholding the deletion of a ₹23.77 crore income tax disallowance. The court found that the company's interest income exceeded its interest expenditure and that the borrowed funds were advanced in a back-to-back transaction.The dispute concerned a disallowance under Section 14A of the Income Tax Act read with Rule 8D(2)(ii). Section 14A deals with expenditure incurred in relation to income that does not form...

Patent Revocation Can Be Sought Independently Or By Counter Claim, Cannot Be Curtailed: Madras High Court

The Madras High court has ruled that a party facing a patent infringement suit can seek revocation of the patent either through a separate revocation petition or by filing a counterclaim in the infringement suit. It cannot be forced to pursue only the counter claim.“This statutory right cannot be whittled down by forcing the litigant to choose a remedy by only filing a counter claim,” Justice K. Kumaresh Babu observed. “Such statutory rights available to the litigant cannot be curtailed to the...