Delhi High Court Finds Mehra Brothers In Breach Of Settlement Concerning SUPERON Trademark

The Delhi High Court has found that brothers Sanjay Mehra and Sharad Mehra breached the court-recorded Terms of Settlement (family settlement) governing the “SUPERON” trademark, holding them guilty of wilful disobedience of the agreed intellectual property and territorial restrictions.The findings came on cross-contempt petitions filed by both sides, each accusing the other of violating the settlement. Consequently, it directed both of them to comply with the requirements of the...

Delhi High Court Orders Rakshit Shetty's Banner To Pay ₹25 Lakh Over Unauthorised Song Use In 'Bachelor Party'

The Delhi High Court has directed Kannada actor-director Rakshit Shetty's production house, Paramvah Studios, to deposit Rs 20 lakh as licence fee and imposed Rs 5 lakh as costs for contempt, holding that the unauthorised use of two Kannada film songs in Bachelor Party was purposeful and not trivial. A Bench of Justice Tejas Karia rejected the studio's de minimis defence, holding that “the application of the 'de minimis' or fair use standard is determined primarily by qualitative aspects rather...

Clandestine Gold Transport & High Purity Satisfy “Reasonable Belief” Under Customs Act: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 31 March restored the adjudicating authority's confiscation of 1,999.90 grams of gold, holding that clandestine transport and high scientific purity of bullion establish a “reasonable belief” of smuggling under the Customs Act. A Division Bench of Justices Rajarshi Bharadwaj and Uday Kumar allowed the Commissioner of Customs (Preventive), Kolkata's appeals, reinstated the confiscation and penalties, and set aside the Tribunal's order that had granted relief to the...

Madras High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Granting Damages To Power Purchaser After Supplier's First Breach

The Madras High Court on 6 March, held that an arbitral award granting damages for non-supply of electricity cannot be interfered with when the supplier itself commits the initial breach of the power supply agreement by unilaterally revising the tariff and stopping supply without following the contractual procedure. A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and K. Kumaresh Babu dismissed an appeal filed by OPG Power Generation Pvt Ltd (OPG) under Section 37 of the Arbitration and...

Cross-State ITC Transfer Cannot Be Denied on Amalgamation: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has held that Input Tax Credit (ITC) cannot be denied on the ground that the transferor and transferee companies are located in different States in a case of amalgamation. A Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi held, "The transfer of the ITC on amalgamation of the company is permissible as per the provision of Section 18(3) of the CGST Act read with Rule 41 of the CGST Rules. Neither of the provision prohibits or debars transfer of the ITC on the...

Virtual Services Treated As Rendered In India: Bombay High Court Denies NIL TDS Certificate To China-Based Entity

The Bombay High Court has refused to grant a nil withholding tax certificate under Section 197 to a China-based company, holding that services delivered through emails and video conferencing can be treated as rendered in India, while also declining to interfere as the core tax dispute is pending before appellate authorities. A bench of Justices B. P. Colabawalla and Amit S. Jamsandekar observed that “the rendition of these services, even if done virtually, equate to and is the same as a...

Delhi High Court Grants Interest on Delayed Customs Duty Refunds To Mobile Importers, Denies Relief To Lava

The Delhi High Court has held that mobile importers, including Intex Technologies (India) Ltd., are entitled to interest on refunds of excess customs duty paid by them.A Division Bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain allowed a batch of writ petitions filed by multiple importers, including Jaina Mobile India, Intex Technologies, and UT Electronics (Petitioners), all of whom had been granted refunds of excess Countervailing Duty (CVD) but were denied interest.However, no interest on...

Foreign Arbitral Award Unenforceable In India Without Valid Arbitration Agreement: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that a foreign arbitral award, even if confined to costs, cannot be enforced in India under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, if it is rendered in the absence of a valid arbitration agreement, holding that such disputes are not capable of settlement by arbitration under Indian law. Justice S. Manu dismissed an execution petition filed by Concilium Marine Group AB and Concejo AB, two Swedish entities, against an Indian resident, observing, “A...

Delhi High Court Quashes Reassessment, Special Audit Against Huawei For AY 2013-14; Upholds Reopening For AY 2015-16

The Delhi High Court has granted partial relief to Huawei Telecommunications (India) in a batch of petitions challenging special audit directions and reassessment proceedings initiated by the Income Tax Department.A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar partly allowed the petitions, setting aside the special audit directions and reassessment notices for Assessment Year (AY) 2013-14, while sustaining the proceedings for AY 2015-16.The case arose from a search and seizure...

Limitation To Pass Transfer Pricing Order Cannot Be Extended By Treating Remand As Fresh Reference: Karnataka High Court

Rejecting the income tax department's attempt to treat a Tribunal remand as a fresh transfer pricing reference to extend limitation, the Karnataka High Court has held that no order can be passed once the statutory time limit expires. A single-judge bench of Justice Nagaprasanna emphasised that there is a “world of difference” between a reference made by the Assessing Officer to the Transfer Pricing Officer under Section 92CA(1) and a remand of the matter by the Tribunal, rejecting the Revenue's...

Karnataka High Court Holds Bona Fide Purchaser Entitled To ITC, Reads Down Rules In Favor Of Instakart

The Karnataka High Court on 9 February 2026 held that a bona fide purchaser cannot be denied input tax credit (ITC) merely because the selling dealer failed to deposit tax with the government. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar read down Section 16(2)(C) of the CGST / KGST Act and Rule 36(4) of the CGST / KGST Rules to set aside the order denying ITC to Instakart Services Private Limited. He held: “The impugned provisions contained in Section 16(2)(C) of the CGST / KGST Act...

Earthen Roofing Tiles By Khadi Board-Recognised Unit Qualify For VAT Exemption: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on 12 March held that earthen roofing tiles manufactured by a unit recognised and financed by the Kerala Khadi and Village Industries Board are eligible for tax exemption as “pottery” under the KVAT Act. A Division Bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Basant Balaji set aside tax demands raised against Annamanada Kalimon Vyavasaya Sahakarana Sangham Ltd., a cooperative society engaged in manufacturing clay products in Thrissur. The Bench observed: “We allow...