No TDS Payable On National Highways' Land Acquisition Arbitral Awards: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that deducting TDS from compensation awarded under arbitral awards in National Highways acquisition cases is impermissible, holding that forcing land losers to seek tax refunds would defeat the purpose of the land acquisition law's tax exemption.Referring to Section 96 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, the Court observed, "Any interpretation which requires deduction of tax at source...

Delhi High Court Orders Takedown Of AI Deepfakes Misappropriating Shashi Tharoor's Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court on Friday granted an interim injunction to Congress MP and former diplomat Shashi Tharoor, restraining unknown parties from using artificial intelligence and related technologies to create and circulate deepfake videos falsely attributing politically sensitive statements to him. Justice Mini Pushkarna on May 8 directed X (formerly Twitter) to forthwith take down and block access to the infringing content identified in the suit while directing Meta to ensure that the...

Bombay High Court Quashes GST Action Over Infra Company's Corporate Guarantees Issued Without Consideration

The Bombay High Court has held that D.P. Jain & Co. Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. cannot be subjected to GST for corporate guarantees it issued to State Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra to secure loans granted to its group companies, as the company received no consideration for furnishing those guarantees. A Division Bench of Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke and Justice Nivedita P. Mehta observed: “There was no flow of consideration for the rendering of services. Therefore, taxability does not...

Rajasthan VAT Act Permits Search Of Residential Premises In Tax Evasion Cases: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has recently held that the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act does not prohibit searches at residential premises, provided the statutory requirements for search and seizure are strictly fulfilled. A Division Bench of Justice Arun Monga and Justice Sunil Beniwal referring to Section 75 of the Rajasthan Value Added Tax Act, 2003 observed, “Thus, the statute does not prohibit search of residential premises as such; however, the exercise of such power is conditioned upon strict...

Education Consultancy Services To Foreign Universities Not 'Intermediary Services' Under GST: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Friday reiterated that education consultancy, marketing, and recruitment support services rendered by an Indian entity to foreign universities would not qualify as “intermediary services” under the Integrated Goods and Services Tax Act and would instead constitute export of services eligible for GST refund.A division bench of Justices Nitin Wasudeo Sambre and Ajay Digpaul passed the ruling while allowing a writ petition filed by Fateh Education Consulting Private Limited,...

Mumbai High Project Dispute: Bombay High Court Orders L&T To Keep ₹150 Crore Bank Guarantee Alive

The Bombay High Court has directed Larsen & Toubro Ltd. to continue renewing and keeping alive bank guarantees worth approximately ₹150.34 crore furnished to ONGC Ltd. in a dispute over liquidated damages arising from the Mumbai High North redevelopment project. The court held that ONGC, though largely unsuccessful in the arbitration after the tribunal awarded higher claims to L&T, could still seek interim protection under Section 9 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act in a rare and...

Delhi HC Questions Trimurti Films Over Not Pursuing 2016 'Oye Oye' Copyright Row During Plea Against Dhurandhar 2

The Delhi High Court on Friday sharply questioned Trimurti Films on Friday over its nearly decade-long inaction after objecting in 2016 to the same alleged copyright infringement, asking why it had kept quiet for years before seeking to restrain the OTT release of Dhurandhar: The Revenge over the use of the iconic Tridev song Oye Oye. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was openly skeptical of the plaintiff's case and remarked, “In spite of sending a notice in 2016 in respect of Azhar, you are keeping...

Delhi High Court To Pass Interim Orders In Universal Studios' Suit Against PlayIMDb's Piracy Mechanism

The Delhi High Court on Friday indicated that it would pass orders in a copyright infringement suit filed by Universal City Studios Productions LLLP against PlayIMDb.com and several other alleged rogue streaming platforms. During the hearing before Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, Universal City Studios detailed what it described as an “ingenious” piracy mechanism through which rogue websites exploit IMDb's infrastructure to facilitate unauthorized streaming of films, including Fast X, the tenth main...

Bombay High Court Grants Interim Relief Protecting Ahmed Perfumes' Arabic Logo, Refuses Passing Off Relief

The Bombay High Court has granted an interim copyright protection to UAE-based Ahmed Perfumes against a Mumbai perfume trader over alleged copying of its Arabic calligraphic logo but refused interim passing off relief after finding the company had failed to show goodwill and a customer base in India. In an order pronounced on May 7, Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh restrained Mohammed Faisal Rehman Sultan Ahmed Shamsi and his associated entities, Al Ahmed India and Ahmed Al Maghribi LLP, from...

GST Law Does Not Bar More Than One Refund Application, Especially In Case Of Inadvertent Lapse: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has recently held that a GST refund claim cannot be rejected merely because the taxpayer had earlier filed another refund application for a broader tax period, where the later claim was filed within the limitation period and there is no statutory bar against such a claim. Referring to Section 54(1) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, which governs refund claims, the Court said: “Section 54 does not provide any bar for a party to maintain more than one application,...

"Fishing Inquiry": Bombay High Court Upholds Quashing Of Income Tax Revision Against Impact Foundation

The Bombay High Court has dismissed the Income Tax Department's appeal against Impact Foundation (India), holding that revisionary proceedings under the Income Tax Act could not be sustained merely because the Commissioner believed the assessing officer should have conducted further enquiry. “The ITAT has therefore rightly come to the conclusion that the CIT (Exemptions), could not have initiated proceedings with a view to start de novo or a fishing inquiry in matters or orders which are...

Bombay High Court Quashes Post-Merger GST Demand Against Vodafone Mobile Services

The Bombay High Court has recently held that GST proceedings initiated against Vodafone Mobile Services Ltd. after it ceased to exist due to its merger with Idea Cellular Ltd. and Vodafone India Ltd. were void ab initio. The court set aside the adjudication order and held that the show cause notice itself was issued without jurisdiction. A Division Bench of Justice G. S. Kulkarni and Justice Aarti Sathe observed that, “the show-cause notice itself having been issued without jurisdiction, the...