Excise Duty Recovery During Stay On Demand Treated As 'Under Protest'; Refund Not Time-Barred: Madras HC

The Madras High Court has held that where the Department appropriates amounts during the pendency of an appeal against a Excise duty demand despite a subsisting stay order, such amounts must be treated as paid under protest, and a refund cannot be denied on the ground of limitation.The bench stated that "If the revenue is permitted to adopt such novel ways to adjust the amounts by getting over an order of stay and thereby indirectly recovering the money, it cannot be construed as a duty payable...

Bombay High Court Orders MPT To Refund ₹4.09 Crore To JSW Steel Over Sunken Barge

The Bombay High Court on Friday held that liability for the removal of a wrecked vessel under Section 14 of the Indian Ports Act, 1908 applies to the owner of the vessel and directed the Mumbai Port Trust (MPT) to refund Rs 4.09 crore to JSW Steel after finding it was not the owner of the sunken barge.Allowing the writ petition, a bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram V. Shirsat directed MPT to return Rs 4,09,25,764, comprising Rs 70 lakh deposited by JSW Steel along with accrued...

Delhi High Court Orders Removal Of 'Goldi' Mark For Infringing Shubham Goldiee Masale's Trademark

The Delhi High Court has ordered the cancellation and removal of the trademark “GOLDI” (label) from the Register of Trade Marks in petitions filed by Shubham Goldiee Masale Pvt. Ltd. In a judgment delivered on April 8, 2026, Justice Tushar Rao Gedela held that the GOLDI mark was phonetically, visually, and structurally nearly identical to the registered “GOLDIEE” trademark. The court observed that allowing two deceptively similar marks to coexist in the same trade channels for similar goods,...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside Arbitral Award Against Indian Oil Corporation Over “Acute Reasoning Deficit”

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral award, holding that an award lacking intelligible reasoning is liable to be set aside under Section 34, as arbitral awards must satisfy the requirement of reasoned decisions under Section 31(3) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A Bench of Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar held that an arbitral award must disclose a clear reasoning process and cannot merely reproduce pleadings or record conclusions without analysis. The challenge was...

Uttarakhand High Court Dismisses Writ Pleas Against Arbitrator's Rejection Of Delayed NH -74 Compensation Claims

The Uttarakhand High Court has dismissed a batch of petitions filed by landowners challenging an arbitrator's rejection of their delayed claims for enhanced compensation under the National Highways Act, holding that such challenges cannot be entertained in writ jurisdiction when a statutory remedy is available under the arbitration law.It noted that a remedy is available under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act to challenge such orders. A single bench of Justice Rakesh Thapliyal noted that...

Delhi High Court Blocks Rogue Websites From Streaming HBO's 'Euphoria' Ahead Of Season 3 Release

The Delhi High Court has recently granted an ex parte ad interim injunction in favour of Home Box Office Inc. (HBO), restraining 43 defendants, including 20 “rogue” websites, from unauthorisedly streaming or distributing its series “Euphoria” ahead of the imminent release of its third season. The order was passed on April 6, 2026 by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, who observed that any delay in blocking access to infringing websites could result in financial losses and an irreparable breach of HBO's...

Seat Of Arbitration Can Be Inferred From Exclusive Jurisdiction Clause: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on 8 April 2026 held that where an agreement provides for arbitration and also contains an exclusive jurisdiction clause, such clause indicates the seat of arbitration even if the agreement does not expressly specify the seat or venue. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad heard a petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 filed by Pidge Technologies Pvt. Ltd. seeking appointment of an arbitrator in its dispute with Sliksync...

Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award In Favour Of NCC In AIIMS Bhopal Project Dispute With Health Ministry

The Delhi High Court has upheld an arbitral award in favour of NCC Limited in a dispute arising from the construction of the medical college and hostel complex at AIIMS Bhopal, finding no ground for interference under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. Justice Jasmeet Singh dismissed a petition filed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare challenging the arbitral award dated 8 May 2017 passed by a sole arbitrator.The court reiterated that proceedings under Section...

When Can Arbitral Awards Be Set Aside? Rajasthan High Court Lays Down Principles To Check Perversity

While underscoring that the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was enacted to ensure effective and expeditious resolution of disputes, the Rajasthan High Court expressed concern over the increasing trend of arbitral awards being challenged “as if an appeal has been filed.” A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Shubha Mehta dismissed an appeal filed by the State of Rajasthan against an order of the Commercial Court which had rejected its objections under...

Calcutta High Court Quashes Wilful Defaulter Action Against BSCPL, Finds No Evidence

The Calcutta High Court has set aside a lender's attempt to classify BSCPL Infrastructure Ltd. and its guarantor as “wilful defaulters”, quashing a show cause notice issued after the Wilful Defaulter Identification Committee proposed such classification on December 18, 2025, holding that there was no material to satisfy the RBI framework. Justice Krishna Rao held that the essential ingredients of “wilful default” were not made out, observing: “This Court finds that the respondents have not...

Delhi HC Restrains Flipkart From Listing Pirated Bharati Bhawan Books; Ad-Interim Injunction against 17 Sellers

The Delhi High Court has directed Flipkart to refrain from listing counterfeit or pirated copies of Bharati Bhawan's educational books while granting an ex parte ad interim injunction against 17 online sellers. The 80-year-old publishing house approached the court after discovering that its most popular academic titles, authored by renowned specialists like Dr. H.C. Verma and Dr. R.S. Aggarwal, were being sold as pirated counterfeits on the platform. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, on March 27,...

Delhi High Court Upholds 18% Interest On Arbitral Award, Says Tribunals Free To Grant Such Rates Under Pre-2015 Law

The Delhi High Court has upheld an arbitral award granting 18% interest on the awarded sum to a contractor, holding that tribunals have wide discretion to fix interest rates under the pre-2015 arbitration law. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, in a dispute between the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Anil Gupta, however, modified the award to direct that interest would run only from July 6, 2008, the date of invocation of arbitration, instead of March 8, 2004. “Under the statutory...