Orissa High Court Grants Interim Relief to Taxpayer Against Non-Faceless IT Reassessment

The Orissa High Court on 2 February restrained the Income Tax Department from proceeding further on a reassessment notice issued to a Bhubaneswar-based taxpayer, after finding that the notice was not issued in accordance with the mandatory faceless procedure prescribed under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman was hearing a writ petition filed by Bibekananda Parida, challenging an order passed under Section 148A of the Income Tax...

SARFAESI Involves Enforcement, Not Adjudication; Does Not Bar Arbitration: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday held that initiation of proceedings under the SARFAESI Act does not bar arbitration between a lender and a borrower. The court clarified that SARFAESI proceedings are meant only for enforcement of security and do not involve adjudication of disputes. Arbitration, it held, is an adjudicatory process and can proceed in parallel. Justice Sandeep V. Marne made the observations while hearing petitions filed by Tata Capital Housing Finance Ltd seeking appointment of...

Delhi High Court Grants Permanent Injunction In Favour Of Allied Blenders In 'Officer's Choice' Trademark Case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday decreed a trademark infringement suit in favour of Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd., granting a permanent injunction restraining Batra Breweries and Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. from using the marks “Officer's Choice”, “Officer's Choice Blue”, “Choice”, or any other identical or deceptively similar mark. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the final decree disposing of the commercial suit filed by Allied Blenders alleging infringement of its well-known whisky...

Joint Commissioner's VAT Revision Cannot Be Revisited By Senior Officer: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 2 February held that once an order is revised by a Joint Commissioner under Section 86 of the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003, it cannot be subjected to a further suo motu revision under Section 85 by a Senior Joint Commissioner, as both officers act as delegates of the Commissioner and exercise the same revisional authority. A Bench of Justice Kausik Chanda, while dismissing a review petition filed by the West Bengal Tax Department, wrote: "Once an order has...

Vivek Oberoi Moves Delhi High Court Over AI, Deepfake Misuse of Personality Rights

Actor Vivek Oberoi has filed a commercial suit before the Delhi High Court seeking an injunction against the alleged infringement of his publicity and personality rights, including the unauthorised use of his name, image, voice, and likeness for commercial and personal gain. The suit has been filed through Advocate Sana Raees Khan. The suit has been instituted against several entities, including Collector Bazar, ZoomMantra, Indiacontent, WattPad and Bollywood Movie Posters, alleging...

Trial Court Must Pause Trademark Infringement Suit Once Validity Plea Is Found Tenable: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently reiterated that once a trial court comes to the conclusion that a plea challenging the validity of a registered trademark is prima facie tenable, it must not proceed with the infringement suit and is bound to grant time to the concerned party to approach the Registrar or the High Court for rectification. A single bench of Justice Pankaj Jain clarified that under section 124 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999, a trial court does not have the jurisdiction...

Delhi High Court Bars “Divine Miss India” For Infringing Times Group's “Miss India” Trademark

The Delhi High Court has permanently restrained Seraphic Divine Beauty Pvt. Ltd. from organising or promoting a beauty pageant under the name “Divine Miss India,” holding that the mark infringes and passes off the iconic “Miss India” trademark owned by Bennett, Coleman & Company Ltd.A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Jyoti Singh, by a judgment dated January 21, 2026, ruled in favour of Bennett, holding that use of the impugned mark amounted to trademark infringement and passing off and was...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains One-Person Company From Using 'Media Monk' Name

The Delhi High Court has temporarily barred a one-person company from using the name “Media Monk” after finding it deceptively similar to the global digital brand MediaMonks and likely to mislead consumers. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela granted an ex parte ad interim injunction against Systemry Global Tech (OPC) Pvt. Ltd. The court restrained the company from using the marks “Media Monk”, “MediaMonk”, the domain name mediamonk.ai, or any other mark or domain that is deceptively similar to...

Delhi High Court Rejects Reliance Industries' Objections To Centre's Appeal In $3.86 Billion Dispute

The Delhi High Court on Monday ruled that the Centre's appeal against the refusal to enforce a foreign arbitral award in a $3.86 billion dispute with Reliance Industries can proceed. The court rejected RIL's objections to the Centre's appeal against a single judge order refusing to enforce the foreign arbitral award.The dispute relates to production sharing contracts for the Tapti and Panna Mukta oil and gas fields and a claim of USD 3,856,734,582. A Division Bench of Justice Navin Chawla and...

Amicable Settlement In Commercial GST Dispute Allows Quashing of FIR: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court recently quashed an FIR and released the frozen corporate bank accounts of Indian Compressors Ltd., clarifying that where a dispute is essentially commercial and private in nature, and the parties have voluntarily arrived at an amicable settlement, criminal proceedings may be quashed under Section 482 Cr.P.C., even for non-compoundable offences. A Bench of Justice Uday Kumar noted: "Where the dispute is essentially commercial and private in character, and the parties...

GST Appeal Filed Beyond Statutory Limitation Period Cannot Be Condoned: Gujarat High Court

The Gujarat High Court has dismissed a writ petition challenging the rejection of a Goods and Services Tax (GST) appeal against a demand order on the ground of limitation, clarifying that a High Court cannot condone delay in filing an appeal beyond the maximum period prescribed by the statute. The Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed an appeal by M/S. Agarwal Enterprises and cautioned that taxpayers are required to remain vigilant and regularly verify...

SARFAESI Act Does Not Mandate Resorting To Section 14 In Every Case Of Taking Possession: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that a secured creditor is not mandatorily required to invoke proceedings under Section 14 of the SARFAESI Act for taking physical possession of secured assets, and that possession can be lawfully taken directly under Section 13(4) read with Rule 8 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002, where no resistance is offered by the borrower.A Division Bench comprising Justice Anand Pathak and Justice Pushpendra Yadav allowed a writ petition filed by...