GST Appeals Can't Be Dismissed Without Hearing Taxpayer On Pre-Deposit Shortfall: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 12 October held that a GST appeal cannot be dismissed for a shortfall in mandatory pre-deposit without first giving the taxpayer notice or an opportunity to rectify the defect. A Division Bench of Justices M.S. Karnik and Sandesh D. Patil set aside the rejection of an appeal filed by Bhagyoday Agro Industries against a GST demand of approximately Rs. 14.77 crore. They observed: “The Appellate Authority ought to have applied the well settled principle that when an...

Income Tax Department Cannot Wait For Certified Copy When Digitally Signed Order Is Available: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that the Income Tax Department cannot wait for a certified copy of a court order to compute the limitation period for completing an assessment when a digitally signed copy has already been received by the relevant tax authorities.“In this era of electronic filing and electronic uploading, and in order to alleviate difficulties of the litigants before us, this is a practice which this Court has adopted. Instead of asking a litigant to apply for a certified copy of...

Income Tax Penalty Can Be Waived Even In Cases Of Misreporting After 2026 Amendment: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that taxpayers can seek waiver of income tax penalties even in cases of misreporting of income under the amended Section 270AA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. It also held that an earlier rejection does not prevent a taxpayer from applying again under the amended law.“However, we note that the position has changed considerably as a result of the amendments made by the Finance Act, 2026 w.e.f. 1st March 2026. As is evident from the amendments made, an application for...

Ahmedabad Entities Agree Before Bombay High Court To Stop Using 7 Drug Names In Sun Pharma Suit

Ahmedabad-based Nectar Life Care and Kashmik Formulations Private Limited have agreed to stop using seven names for pharmaceutical products that Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. alleged were deceptively similar to its registered trademarks “HISTAC” and “OMESEC”.Justice Madhav J. Jamdar of the Bombay High Court recorded the settlement on October 8, 2026, and accepted the parties' commitments as undertakings to the court.Sun Pharma holds registered Class 5 pharmaceutical trademarks for “HISTAC”...

Bombay High Court Allows Colgate To Submit Six Renewed Trademark Certificates In 1996 Suit Against Anchor

The Bombay High Court has allowed Colgate-Palmolive to introduce six renewed trademark registration certificates as evidence in its 1996 infringement suit against Anchor Health and Beauty Care Private Limited, holding that the documents cannot be considered irrelevant to the dispute.Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed that “Colgate has paid a disproportionate price for its attorneys' failure to have tabled the six LPCs on July 10, 2019”. The court declined to impose costs on the...

Pending Insolvency Proceedings, Financial Distress Can Warrant Asset Protection Pending Arbitration: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that the pendency of insolvency proceedings against a company does not, by itself, mean that a creditor's claim will fail. However, when considered alongside audited financial losses, negative net worth, substantial liabilities and limited assets, such proceedings can strengthen the case for securing a creditor's claim pending arbitration.“The mere pendency of such proceedings does not mean that the claim of the Petitioner will necessarily fail. But when this...

Bombay High Court Restrains DUNE From Creating Third-Party Rights In 'SNAP', Protects VVAA's 40% IP

The Bombay High Court on 5 October restrained DUNE Collective LLP from creating third-party rights in the Hindi feature film “SNAP” that could prejudice co-producer VVAA Films Private Limited's claimed 40% intellectual property interest, pending commencement of arbitration. Justice Amit Borkar also directed DUNE to disclose records showing how it had used VVAA's funds, but declined to order specific performance of the co-production agreement or grant a blanket restraint against DUNE acting on...

Arbitration Clause Need Not Be Reproduced In Work Orders If GCC Is Incorporated: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that an arbitration clause need not be reproduced in individual work orders where the General Conditions of Contract containing the clause have been incorporated by reference. Justice Amit Borkar held that the relevant question is whether the General Conditions were incorporated into the work orders or were referred to only for a limited purpose, while appointing a sole arbitrator in a payment dispute between Shivkumar Enterprises and TATA Projects Limited. The...

Are All Promoter-Allottee RERA Disputes Non-Arbitrable? Bombay HC Refers Question To Larger Bench

The Bombay High Court has referred to a larger Bench the question of whether every dispute between a real estate promoter and an individual flat buyer under an agreement for sale governed by RERA is non-arbitrable as a class. The court will consider whether arbitrability must instead be examined by looking at the subject matter, nature of relief and the matters RERA authorities are empowered to determine.Justice Amit Borkar observed, “The issue is whether the existence of a statutory forum under...

Supplementary Deed Changing Payment Terms Not Fresh Conveyance For Stamp Duty: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday held that a supplementary deed that only changes the manner of satisfying an already agreed consideration cannot be treated as a fresh conveyance for imposing stamp duty.Justice Amit Borkar set aside a stamp duty demand of ₹21.08 lakh and penalty of ₹51.18 lakh against Om Shivam Builders Private Limited. The Court held that the Stamp Authority must first establish that a document contains a transaction chargeable to stamp duty before proceeding to value the...

SARFAESI Possession Of Property Doesn't Bar Redevelopment If Security Is Protected: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 7 September held that a secured creditor's possession of mortgaged property under the SARFAESI Act does not, by itself, prevent redevelopment of the property, provided the creditor's security remains protected. Justice Amit Borkar permitted redevelopment of flats in Virani Towers, over which the State Bank of India (SBI) had taken possession under SARFAESI proceedings, while directing that the Bank's security should not be diluted or extinguished. The Bench observed: ...

Lilavati Trust Dispute: Bombay High Court Dismisses Former Trustee's Plea In Dispute Over Removal Of Trustees

The Bombay High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by Niket V. Mehta, a former permanent trustee of the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, seeking directions in proceedings for the suspension and dismissal of persons claiming to be trustees of the Trust.Mehta's proceedings sought the suspension and dismissal of Charu K. Mehta, Prashant Mehta, Rajesh Mehta, Rajiv Mehta, Rakesh Khanna, Saurav Sharma, Kiran Shah, Sanjay Shroff, Mohit Mathur, and Tatyaba Palve, who he alleged were...