Delhi High Court Stays Draft Assessment Order Against American Express, Admits Transfer Pricing Appeal

The Delhi High Court has stayed the operation of a draft assessment order passed against American Express Banking Corporation (India Branch) while admitting the company's income tax appeal raising multiple questions of law relating to transfer pricing adjustments, including the validity of the Bright Line Test (BLT) and the Transfer Pricing Officer's (TPO) methodology.A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta noted that by an interim order dated May 29, 2026, it had...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Uttarakhand University From Using 'Maharaja Agrasen' Name In Trademark Dispute

The Delhi High Court has restrained Maharaja Agrasen Himalayan Garhwal University, Uttarakhand, from using the name "Maharaja Agrasen" in any manner till the next date of hearing, holding that its adoption of the name was mala fide and dishonest.Justice Jyoti Singh passed the interim order in a suit filed by Maharaja Agrasen Technical Educational Society (Regd.), which runs several institutions under the "Maharaja Agrasen" family of marks.The plaintiff submitted that it is a charitable society...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Ahmedabad Firm From Using VOLVO Trademark For Elevator Parts

The Delhi High Court has granted an ex parte ad-interim injunction restraining Ahmedabad-based elevator components manufacturer Shree Vishwakarma Engineering Works from using the mark "VOLVO" or any deceptively similar mark in relation to elevator components. Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on July 22 in a trademark infringement suit filed by Swedish automotive company Aktiebolaget Volvo and its group companies. The Volvo group said it adopted the trademark and trade name "VOLVO" on...

Delhi High Court Dismisses Parle's Appeal Against Rival Biscuit Maker's '20-20' Trademark Registration

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.'s challenge to the registration of the trademark "20-20" in favour of a rival biscuit manufacturer. It held that, in the present registration dispute, Parle's subsequent commercial use of the mark could not defeat the rival company's earlier trademark application.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora observed that the rival company's non-use of the mark for several years was...

Delhi High Court Orders Meta To Share User Details, IP Logs In Suit Over Fake Copyright Strikes

The Delhi High Court has directed Meta Platforms Inc. to furnish subscriber information and IP logs relating to people alleged to have misused its copyright reporting system to extort digital content creator Mohammed Nawaz Shaikh.Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani passed the order in a suit filed by Shaikh against unidentified persons. The plaintiff alleged that one of them operated through fabricated identities.Shaikh filed the suit seeking a permanent and mandatory injunction to restrain...

Delhi High Court Seeks Centre, Meta's Reply On PIL Alleging Misuse Of Instagram Copyright Strike Mechanism

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Union of India, the Ministry of Home Affairs, Meta Platforms Inc. and the Government of NCT of Delhi in a public interest litigation alleging that Instagram's automated copyright-strike mechanism is being exploited by organised cyber criminals to extort digital content creators.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora sought responses from the respondents on the plea filed by content creator Nitin...

Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award, Relies On Registered Lease Deed Over Oral Claim Of Joint Venture

The Delhi High Court has recently upheld a partial arbitral award directing a hospital operator to hand over possession of leased premises. It held that an oral claim of a collaborative venture cannot override the clear terms of a registered lease deed when there is no written agreement to support it.Justice Om Prakash Shukla observed that arbitral tribunals are not bound by the Indian Evidence Act. However, they can draw guidance from its underlying principles. In this case, the parties had...

CGST Act Has No Provision To Exempt Mandatory Pre-Deposit For Appeal: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that there is no provision under the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act, 2017, to exempt an assessee from the mandatory pre-deposit required for filing a statutory appeal.A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain thus declined to entertain a trader's writ petition challenging cancellation of a GST registration.According to the petitioner, its GST registration had been cancelled on the allegation that the firm was non-existent and...

Delhi High Court To Examine If Limitation For Income Tax Assessments Applies To Final Orders Passed Under DRP Procedure

The Delhi High Court has admitted the Income Tax Department's appeal to examine whether the statutory deadline for passing income tax assessment orders under Section 153 also governs final assessment orders passed under Section 144C, which lays down a separate assessment procedure for eligible assessees.Section 144C of the Act prescribes a special assessment procedure involving a draft assessment order, review by the Dispute Resolution Panel (DRP), and the passing of a final assessment order for...

Mandatory 7.5% Customs Appeal Pre-Deposit Cannot Be Waived Or Reduced: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that the mandatory pre-deposit required for filing an appeal before the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) under Section 129E of the Customs Act, 1962 cannot be waived or reduced, as the Act contains no provision permitting such reduction.A division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain passed the order while disposing of four writ petitions filed by importers challenging orders passed by the customs authorities and...

Centre's Order To Change Similar Company Name Can't Be Invalid Because It Was Triggered By Complaint: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has upheld an order directing a DNA testing company to change its name, holding that the Central Government's power to rectify similar company names under the Companies Act is not rendered invalid merely because its opinion was triggered by an application from another company. "The order being passed under Section 16(1)(a) of the Act, even though triggered by an application, cannot be considered to be invalid or without jurisdiction, for the simple reason that it was...

Vedanta Oil Block Contract Extension: Delhi High Court Asks Centre To Clarify If Rejection Was A Policy Decision

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Union Government to clarify in an affidavit whether its decision refusing to extend Vedanta Ltd.'s Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for an oil block off the Gujarat coast was based on a broader policy decision. The court asked whether the refusal was aimed at securing higher public revenue from petroleum resources or moving away from extending legacy PSCs, or whether it was confined to the reasons recorded in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas's...