Bombay High Court Rejects EYETEX DIVYA Owner's Plea Against DIVYAM Trademark

The Bombay High court has dismissed a plea by Aravind Laboratories to cancel the registration of a device mark using the word "DIVYAM". It held that the company cannot claim exclusive rights over the word "DIVYA" merely because it forms part of its registered mark "EYETEX DIVYA".Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed that the distinctiveness of the company's registered marks comes from the "EYETEX" prefix and not the standalone word "DIVYA.""It is evident that the dominant feature of the...

Legal Heir Can't File Cheque Bounce Case Without Being Payee Or Holder In Due Course: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 29 June held that a legal heir of a deceased payee cannot maintain a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (which provides for criminal liability for cheque dishonour) merely by virtue of succession. Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale quashed three complaints filed by Nandini Ashok Rao against Dr. Sagar Raghunath Phatkare, holding that she was neither the payee nor the holder in due course of the dishonoured cheques and therefore could not...

Bombay High Court Quashes Criminal Prosecution For Late ITR Filing As Taxpayer Entitled To Refund

The Bombay High Court on 22 July held that criminal prosecution for failure to file an income tax return cannot continue when a subsequent assessment shows that the taxpayer had no tax liability and was instead entitled to a refund, as continuing such proceedings would serve no purpose where the Revenue suffered no loss. Justice Madhav J. Jamdar quashed the criminal complaint that the Income Tax Department filed against Rajesh Somandas Sachdev under Section 276CC of the Income Tax Act (which...

Bombay High Court Quashes PMLA Case Against DB Realty, MD In Case Linked To Ex-Minister Chhagan Bhujbal

The Bombay High Court has quashed money laundering proceedings against DB Realty Managing Director Vinod Goenka and the company in a case linked to former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Cabinet Minister Chhagan Bhujbal. It held that the prosecution could not continue after Parvesh Construction Pvt Ltd, from whom the petitioners were alleged to have received the proceeds of crime, was discharged.Justice Ashwin D. Bhobe said, "Considering that the Accused No. 4 (M/s. Parvesh Construction...

Parties Cannot Invoke Arbitration Beyond Agreed Contractual Limits: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that where an arbitration clause expressly limits who may invoke arbitration and the disputes that may be referred, parties cannot seek appointment of an arbitrator beyond those agreed limits. Refusing to appoint an arbitrator in applications filed by individual members of a cooperative housing society, Justice Arun R. Pedneker observed, "In view of the specific arbitration clause and the limitations placed therein and the parties having agreed to refer only...

Bombay High Court Upholds ITAT Order, Says Tata Power's Broadband Trial Run Income, Scrap Sale Not Taxable

The Bombay High Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by the Income Tax Department against The Tata Power Company Ltd. It held that income from trial runs of its broadband project and the sale of scrap generated before the project's installation were capital receipts not liable to tax.Observing that income generated before the commencement of business that is "inextricably connected with the setting up of a capital asset" is capital in nature and serves to reduce the cost of construction,...

Arbitration Initiated by Liquidator Without Prior NCLT Approval Isn't Void: Bombay High Court

The court ruled that an arbitration notice issued by a liquidator before obtaining NCLT approval became effective only after permission was granted

Bombay High Court Dismisses 'SUNDAY' Trademark Renewal Plea, Finds Notice Properly Dispatched

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a writ petition seeking renewal of the trademark "SUNDAY". It held that the Trade Marks Registry had discharged its obligation to issue a renewal notice before the registration expired by proving that it had been properly dispatched.A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravindra V. Ghuge and Justice Gautam A. Ankhad held that once the Registry proved proper dispatch of the notice to the address for service, the statutory presumption of service came into...

Bombay High Court Temporarily Restrains Niravi From Using 'SAPAT' Trademark For Tea

The Bombay High Court has restrained Niravi Consumer LLP and its associated entities from using the trademark "SAPAT" in relation to tea, holding that they failed to establish any independent right to use the mark for tea.Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh held that Niravi's continued use of "SAPAT" signages while selling "NIRAVI" tea was likely to cause confusion and infringed SAPAT International Private Limited's registered trademark."the consumers would enter the shops being drawn by the signages...

Fresh Employment Agreement Doesn't Automatically End Arbitration Clause In Earlier Contract: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has recently held that execution of a fresh employment agreement does not, by itself, extinguish an arbitration agreement contained in an earlier contract. It observed that whether the earlier contract stood completely substituted depends on the parties' intention, which must be gathered from the overall transaction rather than from the later agreement alone.Justice Amit Borkar delivered the ruling while partly allowing a petition filed by Sarla Advantech Private Limited...

Wife's Failure To Disclose Husband As Home Loan Co-Borrower Not Material Suppression: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 21 July held that a borrower's failure to disclose that her husband was a co-borrower in a housing loan could not, in the facts of the case, be treated as material suppression so as to deny her release of a property attached under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Gadkari and Kamal Khata quashed the order dated 25 November 2021 passed by the Special Judge under the MPID Act, which had refused to release...

Sale Certificate Issued By Liquidator In IBC Auction Exempt From Registration, Stamp Duty: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a liquidator conducting a public auction under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) qualifies as an officer under the Registration Act. Therefore, a sale certificate issued during such an auction is exempt from compulsory registration and stamp duty.The exemption continues so long as only a copy of the sale certificate is filed with the registering authority. Stamp duty becomes payable only if the purchaser later seeks to use the sale certificate for any...