Pre-Dispute Clause Cannot Replace Post-Dispute Written Waiver Of Arbitrator Ineligibility: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has upheld the setting aside of an arbitral award passed by an arbitrator appointed unilaterally by the Managing Director of the Central Warehousing Corporation. It held that a contractual clause permitting such appointment could not override the post-dispute written waiver requirement under Section 12(5) A Division Bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta dismissed an appeal filed by contractor Amal Krishna Dey against the Commercial Court's...

Award Debtor Cannot Sidestep Mandatory 75% Deposit To Challenge MSME Award Through Execution Objections: Telengana HC

The Telangana High Court has held that an award debtor cannot use execution-stage objections to sidestep the mandatory 75% deposit required under the MSMED Act. The ruling came in a dispute between MSME supplier Atlantis Agritech Private Limited and Kendriya Bhandar, after the latter sought to keep asset-disclosure proceedings in abeyance pending its application under Section 47 of the Code of Civil Procedure before the Executing Court. The High Court held that such proceedings cannot be...

Karnataka High Court Upholds Cross-Subsidy Surcharge On Bagasse-Based Power Plants

The Karnataka High Court has upheld cross-subsidy surcharge demands against bagasse-based cogeneration units, holding that exempting solar power projects from the levy while imposing it on bagasse-based cogeneration plants was not discriminatory.Bagasse is the fibrous residue left after sugarcane is crushed to extract its juice Justice M. Nagaprasanna dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Ugar Sugar Works Limited,Hiranyakeshi Sahakari Sakkare Karkhane Niyamit and Godavari Biorefineries...

Rajasthan High Court Rejects Claim To Adjust Earlier Service Tax Payment Against Dues Under Sabka Vishwas Scheme

The Rajasthan High Court has held that a taxpayer who declares the full service tax liability under the voluntary disclosure category of the Sabka Vishwas Scheme cannot later seek adjustment of an earlier tax payment against that declared amount, ruling that the statutory scheme treats the figure voluntarily declared as the tax due.A Division Bench comprising Justice Arun Monga and Justice Ashutosh Kumar held that in a voluntary disclosure case, the amount declared by the taxpayer itself is...

No Customs Interest On Capital Goods Kept In Bonded Warehouse Until Clearance: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has upheld the setting aside of a ₹2.88-crore customs interest demand on solar modules imported by Acme Aklera Power Technology Pvt. Ltd. It held that interest under Section 61(2) of the Customs Act cannot be charged on capital goods covered by Section 61(1)(a). A Division Bench comprising Justice Arun Monga and Justice Ashutosh Kumar held that such capital goods can remain in a warehouse until clearance if they are intended for use in a warehouse where manufacture or...

Borrower Can Directly Challenge Recovery Officer's Auction Sale Confirmation Before DRT: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that a borrower can directly challenge an order of the Recovery Officer confirming an auction sale before the Debts Recovery Tribunal under Section 30(1) of the Recovery of Debts Due to Banks and Financial Institutions Act, 1993. The court clarified that the borrower need not first approach the Recovery Officer under Rule 60 or Rule 61 of the Second Schedule to the Income Tax Act, 1961. It also held that the borrower is not required to make the deposits...

MSME Council Location Does Not Determine Court's Jurisdiction In Post-Award Proceedings: Calcutta HIgh Court

The Calcutta High Court has reiterated that the location of an MSME Facilitation Council does not, by itself, determine the territorial jurisdiction of courts over proceedings arising from an arbitral award.Applying this principle, the court held that an exclusive-jurisdiction clause in favour of the New Delhi courts governed a Section 29A application seeking an extension of the arbitral mandate after an award was passed by the West Bengal Micro Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (WBMSEFC),...

Time-Barred Claim Order Is Arbitral Award, Superfluous Termination Remark Cannot Bar Challenge: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that an arbitral tribunal's decision rejecting a claim as time-barred is a final arbitral award. It said that a separate observation terminating the proceedings under Section 32(2)(c) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, was unnecessary and could not be used to deny the claimant a challenge to the award. Referring to Section 32(2)(c), the bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra held “The said provision has nothing...

GST Authorities Cannot 'Ride Piggyback' On Adjudication Order For Income Tax Reassessment: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that Income Tax authorities cannot rely solely on a GST adjudication order while conducting reassessment proceedings, cautioning that any reassessment must independently comply with the Income Tax Act.A single judge bench of Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, however, declined to interfere with the Section 148 notice issued to a granite and tiles business proprietor for AY 2023-24, as the proceedings were still at a preliminary stage.The court, however,...

Delhi High Court Protects Rajat Sharma's Personality Rights, Bars Trademark Misuse of INDIA TV

The Delhi High Court has recently permanently restrained several individuals and YouTube channels from infringing journalist Rajat Sharma's personality and publicity rights and INDIA TV's registered trademarks. The decree was passed against the specified parties in terms of the permanent-injunction reliefs sought in paragraphs 100(a) to (e) of the plaint.Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on August 24, 2026. The court also allowed Sharma and INDIA TV to seek a declaration that the INDIA TV...

Customs Department Must Hear Account Holder Before Extending Bank Account Attachment: Patna High Court

The Patna High Court has recently ruled that a person whose bank account has been provisionally attached under the Customs Act must be given an opportunity of hearing before the attachment is extended. A hearing offered after the extension has already been ordered cannot cure the defect, the court held.A Division Bench of Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad and Justice Sunil Dutta Mishra made the ruling while allowing a writ petition filed by Nxtify Technologies Private Limited to the extent indicated...

Lack Of Written Allotment Or Agreement Itself Cannot Oust RERA Jurisdiction: Chhattisgarh High Court

The Chhattisgarh High Court has held that the absence of a written allotment document or agreement does not, by itself, oust the jurisdiction of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) over a complaint concerning an alleged real estate transaction.A Division Bench of Justice Parth Prateem Sahu and Justice Sachin Singh Rajput observed, “The word “aggrieved person” used under Section 31 of the Act, 2016 and under Rule 35 of the Rules, 2017, who can file complaint is very wide, therefore, only...