Bombay High Court Restrains Unauthorised Use Of Actor Samantha Prabhu's Persona, Orders Takedowns

The Bombay High Court has recently granted actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu ad-interim protection against AI-generated deepfakes, morphed and pornographic content, chatbots impersonating her and unauthorised merchandise using her name and likeness.Justice Madhav J. Jamdar passed the order on October 1, finding a “very strong prima facie case” for restraining the unauthorised use of Prabhu's persona and directing the removal or disabling of access to the infringing content.Prabhu and her team...

Supplier's GST Default Cannot Automatically Trigger ITC Reversal: Punjab & Haryana High Court

On 1 October, the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that Input Tax Credit (ITC) cannot be mechanically reversed merely because a supplier failed to deposit GST with the Government or because the supplier's registration was subsequently cancelled, including retrospectively. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor upheld the validity of Section 16(2)(c) of the CGST Act, which makes actual payment of tax to the Government a condition for claiming ITC....

Indian-Registered Vehicle Returning From Overseas Trip Not A Fresh Import: Bombay High Court

An Indian-registered vehicle does not become a fresh foreign import merely because it is brought back to India in a shipping container after an overseas road trip, the Bombay High Court has ruled.A Division Bench of Justice M.S. Karnik and Justice Sandesh D. Patil held that a Mahindra Thar belonging to Russian national Denis Vanin had legally left India as a private conveyance for travel. Its subsequent placement in a maritime container for safe transit back to India did not transform it into...

AO Must Decide Reassessment Objections Before Scrutiny Can Begin: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has ruled that an Assessing Officer cannot issue a notice under Section 143(2) of the Income Tax Act to scrutinise a return in reassessment proceedings before deciding the assessee's objections to reopening the assessment.A Division Bench of Justice B.P. Colabawalla and Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla held that issuing a Section 143(2) notice amounts to proceeding with the assessment. The Assessing Officer must therefore first dispose of the assessee's objections to reopening...

Customs Act Does Not Prescribe Uniform Security For Provisional Release; Amount Must Be Reasonable: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that Section 110A of the Customs Act does not prescribe a uniform security for provisional release of seized goods and that the quantum must be determined reasonably based on the facts of each case.“Section 110A of the Customs Act does not prescribe a uniform security for any case and the quantum depends on the facts and circumstances of each case including the nature of the offence, goods/cargo, value of the seized conveyance, revenue exposure,...

Word 'Arbitration' In Brief Clause Can Be Sufficient To Show Intention To Arbitrate: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a brief arbitration clause can constitute a valid and binding arbitration agreement even when it does not use words such as “shall” or “will” to expressly require disputes to be referred to arbitration.Justice Amit Borkar observed, “The Court is not adding the word 'shall' to the contract as a new term. The Court is trying to understand the words already written in the Purchase Order in their ordinary commercial setting. The word 'Arbitration', along with the...

Bombay High Court Orders X Corp To Take Down Alleged Defamatory Video Against Serum Institute, Adar Poonawalla

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday directed X Corp (formerly Twitter) to take down a fresh video uploaded by YouTuber Yohan Tengra in a case brought by Serum Institute of India and its CEO Adar Poonawalla.The court found that the video repeated content it had already held objectionable and that Tengra had said he would not comply with its earlier orderJustice Gauri Godse, in an order pronounced on September 29, also issued show cause notices to Tengra, his channel Anarchy for Freedom India, Ambar...

Acquiring Property Interest Alone Does Not Bind Transferee To Arbitration Clause: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on 7 September held that acquiring an interest in property covered by a Development Agreement, by itself, does not make a transferee a party to the arbitration agreement contained in the Development Agreement. Justice Amit Borakar added that a transferee can become bound by the arbitration clause only where material shows assignment, incorporation, acceptance or unequivocal adoption of the underlying agreement, and appointed a sole arbitrator for disputes between the...

Stamp Authority's Delay In Deciding Stamp Duty Cannot Be Used To Refuse Registration: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a delay caused by the Stamp Authority in adjudicating stamp duty cannot be used to deny registration of a document when the party seeking registration was not responsible for the delay.“A substantive legal right accrued to the Petitioners to have the document registered under the provisions of the Registration Act cannot stand defeated, merely on account of some delay, which is definitely not attributable to the party presenting the document for registration,...

Communication On Company Letterhead Not Enough To Establish Consent To Arbitrate: Bombay High Court

Today, the Bombay High Court held that use of a company's letterhead in project-related communications does not by itself make the company a party to another company's contract or establish its consent to the arbitration clause. Justice Amit Borkar made the observation while referring the dispute between New Consolidated Construction Company Limited (NCCCL) and Limitless Contracting Private Limited concerning construction works at the “One Park Avenue” project in Kolshet, Thane, to arbitration,...

'Agreement For Assignment' Label Cannot Bar Stamp Duty Refund For Failed Deal: Bombay High Court

On Tuesday, 29 September, the Bombay High Court held that refund of stamp duty cannot be denied merely because a failed property transaction was documented as an “Agreement for Assignment” rather than an “Agreement to Sale”. Justice Amit Borkar directed the Maharashtra authorities to refund Rs. 29.75 lakh paid by Solanki Tea Company Private Limited, holding that the relief available under the Maharashtra Stamp Act depends on whether the transaction intended through the instrument had failed,...

Homebuyers Who Withdraw From Delayed Project Cannot Be Made To Wait For Refund Until Occupation Certificate: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has recently held that homebuyers who withdraw from a delayed housing project cannot be made to wait for a refund until the developer obtains an Occupation Certificate (OC).Justice Sandeep V. Marne held that the right of such homebuyers to receive their money back with interest is “absolute and unqualified”.“Thus, on plain reading of Section 18 of RERA, in my view, the right to seek return of amount with interest is absolute and unqualified. The right cannot be diluted by...