Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Rejection of ARS Steels' Plea To Cancel Rival TMT Bar Design Registration

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday set aside an order of the Deputy Controller of Patents and Designs rejecting ARS Steels and Alloy International Private Limited's application to cancel the registered design of a double “XX-Rib” pattern on construction rods held by Souvik Steels Private Limited. Holding the order unsustainable, the court said the Controller's finding that there was “no scope of enquiry” into similar products already being available in the market was “perverse.” Justice Ravi...

Calcutta High Court Says Vodafone Needs IPRS Licence To Use Songs As Caller Tunes

The Calcutta High Court on Friday held that Vodafone Idea Limited cannot commercially exploit the underlying musical and literary works embedded in sound recordings used for caller tunes and ringtones without obtaining permission from the Indian Performing Right Society Limited (IPRS). IPRS is a copyright society that manages copyright licences for musical and literary works on behalf of rights holders. The court said Vodafone's arrangements with sound recording companies such as Saregama...

Kolkata East-West Metro: Calcutta High Court Upholds Arbitral Award In Favour Of KMRC

The Calcutta High Court on Friday dismissed a challenge filed by ITD-ITD CEM Joint Venture against an arbitral award arising from the Kolkata East-West Metro Railway Project. It upheld the award in favour of Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (KMRC). Justice Gaurang Kanth rejected the contractor's petition under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act. The challenge was to portions of an arbitral award dated November 21, 2019. The award had rejected the contractor's claims for...

Calcutta HC Refuses To Reject Suit, Says Lender Licence Question Under Bengal Money Lenders Act Is Triable

The Calcutta High Court has held that whether a lender company possessed the requisite licence under the Bengal Money Lenders Act, 1940 at the time of advancing loans is a triable issue and cannot be decided at the threshold to reject a recovery suit. Justice Aniruddha Roy observed: “Thus, on a harmonious and meaningful reading of the provisions laid down under Section 13 of BML Act, this Court is of the firm and considered view that, the instant application claiming rejection of plaint is not...

Calcutta High Court Temporarily Stays Arbitral Award In Tata Nano Singur Land Acquisition Dispute

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday (May 7) temporarily stayed for eight weeks the enforcement of a ₹765.78 crore arbitral award passed in favour of Tata Motors Ltd against the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (WBIDC) in the dispute over the acquisition of land in Singur for Tata's Nano factory. An arbitral tribunal had, on October 30, 2023 directed WBIDC to pay Tata Motors ₹765.78 crore with interest at 11% per annum. Justice Aniruddha Roy granted an unconditional interim...

Loan Repayment Not Contingent On Third-Party Performance, Unless Agreed: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that a borrower cannot avoid repayment of a loan on the ground that a third party failed to perform its obligations, ruling that such liability flows from the contract between the borrower and the lender. Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta, while dismissing the writ petition filed by Jayanti Karmakar, rejected her contention that she should not be saddled with liability due to the alleged default of the supplier. “The contention of the petitioner that she should not be...

Mere Delay Or Inaction Does Not Amount To Abandonment Of Arbitration: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held that mere delay or inaction cannot, by itself, lead to an inference of abandonment of arbitration, emphasising that there must be a clear and conscious intention to relinquish the arbitral remedy. Justice Gaurang Kanth allowed a petition by MIPL DRAIPL JV in a dispute with Eastern Railway and appointed a substitute arbitrator after terminating the earlier arbitrator's mandate.“In law, abandonment cannot be readily inferred from mere inaction or delay. It must be...

Calcutta High Court Says Parties Can't Object To Kolkata Arbitration Venue After Failing To Do So Earlier

The Calcutta High Court has held, in the facts of a loan dispute, that borrowers who failed to object to the choice of arbitration venue despite notice and participated in earlier proceedings before Kolkata courts could not later challenge jurisdiction, as their conduct amounted to consent. A Single Bench of Justice Shampa Sarkar allowed an application filed by Electronica Finance Limited and appointed advocate Deepan Kumar Sarkar as the sole arbitrator to adjudicate disputes with Quality...

Calcutta High Court Quashes LOC Against Ex-Elder Pharma Employee In ₹1,300 Crore SFIO Probe

The Calcutta High Court has quashed a Look Out Circular against Debanjan Hazra, a former Elder Pharmaceuticals employee living in China since 2013, holding that it violated his right to personal liberty under Article 21.Earlier, a single judge of the Calcutta High Court had refused to quash the Look Out Circular. A Division Bench of Justices Shampa Sarkar and Ajay Kumar Gupta, in appeal, held the LOC was based on “speculative apprehension” and was “arbitrary and disproportionate,”...

Bombay High Court Rules Damages Under Arbitral Award Not Taxable Under GST In Tata Sons–NTT Docomo Case

The Bombay High Court has held that the Rs. 8,450 crore paid by Tata Sons to NTT Docomo under an arbitral award cannot be subjected to GST.The payment arose from a dispute over Docomo's exit rights under a shareholders' agreement in Tata Teleservices, and the Court rejected the tax department's claim that it amounted to a taxable service. A Division Bench of Justices G.S. Kulkarni and Aarti Sathe was considering whether settlement of the arbitral award and the accompanying consent terms could...

Deductions For Captive Power Profits Cannot Reduce Export Profit Deduction When Businesses Are Separate: Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court has ruled that deductions claimed on profits from captive power generation and export businesses must be computed independently and cannot be reduced against each other where the incomes arise from distinct sources. “The deduction granted under Section 80-IA cannot be reduced while computing profits eligible for deduction under Section 80HHC where the deductions arise from independent businesses,” the court held. A division bench of Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj and...

Bidder Cannot Reopen Concluded E-Auction Due To Own Technical Glitch: Calcutta High Court

On 23 April, the Calcutta High Court held that a bidder cannot seek reopening of a concluded e-auction process on the ground of a technical glitch arising at its own end, as such a plea cannot justify a second opportunity once the auction has closed. A Bench of Justice Krishna Rao dismissed a writ petition filed by City Mall Vikash Pvt Ltd and another against the Union of India and Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (Kolkata), which had issued a tender for allotment of land inside the CME compound at...