Centre Can Use Power Under Patents Act To Make Exorbitantly Priced Drugs Affordable: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Monday held that Section 100 of the Patents Act permits the Central Government to use a patent to manufacture a medicine and sell it to a needy patient on a non-commercial basis. It further held that the provision is required to be invoked where a patented medicine is being sold at an exorbitant price.“The provisions of Section 100 impose no restriction on who the purchaser could be,” Justice Harisankar V. Menon held. “When that be so, the provisions under Section 100...

Delhi High Court Issues Notice To Riju Ravindran On Byju's Alpha Plea To Enforce $840K DIFC Courts Order

The Delhi High Court on Friday sought a response from Riju Ravindran, co-founder of Byju's parent Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, on an execution petition filed by Byju's Alpha Inc., a Delaware-incorporated company and Think & Learn group company. Byju's Alpha is seeking enforcement of a Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts order directing Ravindran to pay USD 8,40,000 towards costs. Justice Manoj Jain was hearing the execution petition filed by Byju's Alpha against Ravindran...

Kerala High Court Issues Notice To SEBI On Plea Alleging Financial Irregularities Against Kitex Group

The Kerala High Court on Saturday issued notice to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on a petition by a Kitex Garments Limited shareholder seeking consideration of his complaint alleging irregularities in the company's financial and related-party transactions.The court also issued notice to Kitex Garments Limited (KGL) and Kitex Childrenswear Limited (KCL), which have been named as respondents in the petition.Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas issued the notice. SEBI's counsel sought...

Delhi High Court Restrains Doora Express Services' Former General Manager From Using 'DURA' Mark

The Delhi High Court has restrained a former General Manager and his logistics company from using “DURA” for logistics and transportation services. The court found prima facie merit in Doora Express Services' claim that the mark is similar to its registered “DOORA” trademarks.Justice A.J. Bhambhani passed the order in a suit filed by Doora Express Services against Dura Logistics India and its director.Doora Express Services is the registered proprietor of the trademarks "DOORA," "DOORA EXPRESS...

CGST Act Permits Tax Liability To Be Determined After Death Of Person: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act permits tax, interest, or penalty liability to be determined even after the death of the person against whom the underlying liability arises.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Vimal Kumar Yadav held that Section 93 of the CGST Act does not require adjudicatory proceedings to have commenced during the lifetime of the deceased for liability to be determined after his death.“The provision preserves...

Delhi High Court Upholds ₹10.57 Crore GST Demand, Says Parallel Proceedings Barred Only For Same Subject Matter

The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea challenging the ₹10.57 crore GST demand, holding that the subsequent proceedings initiated by the Delhi GST authorities were not barred merely because the Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) had earlier initiated proceedings against the Petitioner concerning overlapping transactions.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta held that Section 6(2)(b) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, which seeks to...

“Very Dangerous Proposition”: Delhi HC On AAR View Treating Mastercard's Interface Processor In India As Permanent Establishment

The Delhi High Court on Friday orally observed that treating a network or towers as a permanent establishment (PE) of a foreign enterprise could be a “very dangerous proposition," warning that such an approach could be misused across jurisdictions.“AAR's view that towers and network itself constitute a PE is a very dangerous proposition ... it can be misused anywhere,” a Division Bench comprising Justice Dinesh Mehta and Justice Aditi Choudhary observed while hearing afresh Mastercard Asia...

Appointing Arbitrator Unilaterally Does Not Amount To Waiving Ineligibility: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that a party's unilateral appointment of an arbitrator cannot by itself amount to an express waiver of the arbitrator's statutory ineligibility under Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.A Division Bench of Justice Anil Kshetarpal and Justice Vimal Kumar Yadav upheld the setting aside of an arbitral award partly in favour of Ahluwalia Contracts (India) Limited (ACIL), despite the Airports Authority of India (AAI) having appointed the...

Punjab & Haryana High Court Sets Aside PCIT Order Rejecting Delay Condonation In HMT VRS Tax Claim

The Punjab & Haryana High Court on 23 September set aside the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax's (PCIT) rejection of an HMT Limited's employee's request to condone the delay in filing a revised return to claim an additional exemption on VRS compensation.A Division Bench of Justices Deepak Sibal and Sunish Bindlish held that delay in filing a revised income tax return cannot be treated as a standalone test while considering a request for condonation under CBDT Circular No. 9/2015. The...

Must Assets Seized Under The Income Tax Act Be Automatically Released After 120 Days? Gujarat HC Refers Issue To Larger Bench

The Gujarat High Court has referred to a Larger Bench the question of whether seized assets must be mandatorily released upon completion of 120 days under Section 132B of the Income Tax Act, where an application for release is filed within 30 days.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Vaibhavi D. Nanavati referred three questions concerning the interpretation of the First and Second Provisos to Section 132B(1)(i).The questions are:“(1) Whether the release of seized assets is...

Delhi High Court Finds 'Herbawish' Deceptively Similar To Herbalife, Temporarily Restrains Use

The Delhi High Court on 15 September temporarily restrained Ashish Kumar and his company from using “Herbawish” and “Herbawish Nutrition”, along with a similar three-leaf logo and trade dress, in a trademark infringement suit filed by Herbalife International. A Bench comprising Justice Jyoti Singh held that “the deception is enhanced owing to common prefix 'Herba.'” Herbalife told the Court that, besides the word marks “Herbalife” and “Herbalife Nutrition”, it owns registrations for a...

Chewing Gum Not Taxable At 4% As 'Sweets And Sweetmeats': Gujarat High Court Holds 12.5% VAT Applies

The Gujarat High Court has recently ruled that chewing gum cannot be classified as “sweets and sweetmeats” under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003. It held that the product is taxable at 12.5%, instead of the 4% rate applicable to sweets and sweetmeats.A bench comprising Justice Bhargav D. Karia and Justice Pranav Trivedi relied on the Supreme Court's ruling in Commissioner of Trade Tax, U.P. v. Associated Distributors Ltd. The court also held that the tribunal was wrong in deleting the...