One-Month Notice Before Suo Motu Trademark Cancellation Is Mandatory: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday made it clear that if the Registrar decides to cancel or rectify a trademark registration on his own initiative, the registered owner must first be given at least one month's notice under Rule 100(1) of the Trade Marks Rules, 2017. The Court emphasised that this is not a mere formality. The one-month notice requirement is mandatory and cannot be brushed aside by invoking principles such as estoppel. A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om...

Bombay High Court Quashes ₹1 Crore Stamp Duty Demand On Romell Real Estate's Slum Redevelopment Agreement

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday set aside a stamp duty demand of over Rs. 1 crore raised against Romell Real Estate Pvt. Ltd., holding that the authorities erred by adding the cost of constructing a Permanent Transit Camp (PTC) while recalculating the market value in a slum redevelopment project. A Single Judge Bench of Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan found that the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority (CCRA) acted arbitrarily in enhancing the market value by including the PTC construction cost...

Delhi High Court Grants Levi Strauss Temporary Injunction Against Use of Its Iconic Pocket Tab Mark

The Delhi High Court has recently granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of US denim and apparel company Levi Strauss and Company, holding that it had made out a strong prima facie case for protection of its registered “Tab Device Mark” and that the balance of convenience lay in its favour.Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, in its order dated February 23, 2026, observed that the “cumulative effect” of the pleadings, trademark registrations and sales figures tilted the balance of convenience...

Delhi High Court Dismisses IRCON Appeal Against Railway Construction Arbitral Award

The Delhi High Court has recently dismissed an intra court appeal filed by IRCON International Limited, reiterating that appellate courts have very limited room to interfere in arbitration matters. The court held that the arbitral tribunal's findings on how the excavation was classified and whether payment was due for tie bolts were purely factual determinations, which cannot be reopened under Sections 34 and 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A Division Bench of Justice C....

Importer Who Voluntarily Pays Differential Customs Duty, Seeks DRI Probe Closure Cannot Claim Refund: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on Wednesday held that differential customs duty voluntarily paid during a Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) investigation cannot be claimed as a refund. The Court further held that Notification No. 25/2019-Customs amended the applicable customs duty rate by treating shrimp larvae feed in both pellet and non-pellet form as attracting 5% basic customs duty. The notification cannot be applied retrospectively to imports made prior to its issuance.The judgment was...

Bombay High Court Dismisses Nusli Wadia, Raheja Challenge to Deemed Conveyance of Malad Land to IJMIMA Society

The Bombay High Court has dismissed three writ petitions filed by industrialist Nusli Neville Wadia, in his capacity as Administrator of the Estate of Late E.F. Dinshaw, along with Radhakrishna Properties Pvt. Ltd. and Ivory Properties and Hotels Pvt. Ltd. The petitions challenged an order dated August 29, 2022 granting unilateral deemed conveyance in favour of the Ijimima Imitation Jewellery Market Co-operative Society.Justice Amit Borkar upheld the order passed by the District Deputy Registrar...

Bombay High Court Upholds ₹496.48 Crore Metro One Award, Strikes Down ₹248 Crore For Lack Of Evidence

The Bombay High Court has partly upheld the Rs. 496.48 crore arbitral award in favour of Mumbai Metro One Private Limited arising from the Metro Line 1 project, but has set aside nearly Rs. 248 crore awarded under three heads of damages, finding that those components were not backed by evidence. Justice Sandeep V. Marne underscored that courts are required to respect the finality of arbitral awards and cannot interfere lightly. At the same time, he made it clear that intervention is justified...

Delhi High Court Protects Actress Kajol's Personality Rights, Orders Takedown Of AI Deepfakes, Vulgar Chatbots

The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction to protect the personality rights of Bollywood actress Kajol Vishal Devgan, restraining the unauthorised use of her likeness in AI-generated deepfakes, vulgar chatbots, and commercial merchandise.Presiding over the matter, Justice Jyoti Singh on February, 2026, found that the actress had established a prima facie case for injunction, observing that the alleged unauthorised exploitation of her attributes impacts her right to...

Order Passed In Fraud Proceedings Cannot Be Reclassified To Avail Amnesty Scheme: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court held that an order passed under Section 74 of the CGST Act, 2017 involving allegations of fraud, misstatement or suppression of facts cannot be converted into a non-fraud order under Section 73 merely to enable the taxpayer to claim relief under the GST Amnesty Scheme, in the absence of documentary evidence disproving such allegations. A Bench comprising Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi, by its order dated 13 February 2026, rejected the plea of R.B. Pandey...

Appellate Court Cannot Reassess Valuation Findings in Arbitration Appeal: Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that an arbitral award determining compensation under the National Highways Act cannot be interfered with in a Section 37 appeal merely because another view on valuation is possible. Dismissing two appeals filed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Justice Javed Iqbal Wani reiterated that Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 provides only a limited right of appeal. “Section 37 of the Act of 1996...

Bombay High Court Modifies Arbitral Order On TDR Sale, Upholds Stay On Termination In Redevelopment Dispute

The Bombay High Court has partly modified an arbitral tribunal's interim order in a redevelopment dispute, holding that the tribunal exceeded the scope of interim protection in prescribing the manner in which Transferable Development Rights (TDR) could be sold. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan was hearing an appeal under Section 37 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, filed by landowner Khimchand Prithviraj Kothari against an interim order passed in favour of developer Earth Realtors. ...

Delhi High Court Protects Swami Ramdev's Personality Rights, Restrains AI Deepfakes

The Delhi High Court has recently granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of yoga guru Swami Ramdev, restraining the unauthorised use of his name, voice, image, likeness and distinctive style in AI-generated deepfakes, fabricated endorsements and other commercial content. In an order dated February 18, 2026, Justice Jyoti Singh held that Ramdev had made out a prima facie case. The Court observed that the material placed on record showed exploitation of his personality rights. The...