ITC Blocked By GST Authorities Cannot Be Treated As Appeal Pre-Deposit: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on 3 September held that input tax credit (ITC) blocked under Rule 86A of the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Rules cannot be treated as payment of the mandatory pre-deposit required for filing a GST appeal. A Division Bench comprising Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain dismissed a petition filed by Spherion Solutions Private Limited seeking permission to utilise Rs. 3,33,257 from its blocked Electronic Credit Ledger (ECL) towards the statutory pre-deposit under...

Delhi High Court Refuses Release Of Customs-Detained Gold Over Disputed Coercion Claim

The Delhi High Court has held that a disputed claim that a passenger was coerced into signing documents admitting non-declaration of goods cannot, by itself, justify their release in writ jurisdiction. The court cannot accept such a version over contemporaneous documents bearing the passenger's signatures when it raises disputed questions of fact.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain made the observation while dismissing a petition seeking release of two gold bars, which...

Delhi High Court Appoints Amicus Curiae In Janhvi Kapoor's Personality Rights Suit

The Delhi High Court has appointed Advocate Gautam Bhatia as an amicus curiae to assist it in the personality rights suit filed by actor Janhvi Kapoor, alongside Advocate Rohan Alva, who was already assisting the court with actor Vivek Oberoi's personality rights.Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani made the appointment “considering the importance of the issues involved" in these matters and fixed a date in September.The appointment comes amidst concerns of overbroad prayers made in recent personality...

Delhi High Court Lays Down Guidelines For Execution Of Insufficiently Stamped Domestic Arbitral Awards

The Delhi High Court has laid down detailed guidelines to its registry for ensuring compliance with stamp duty and registration requirements in petitions seeking enforcement of domestic arbitral awards.The directions come after the court held that an inadequately stamped arbitral award cannot be acted upon at the enforcement stage merely because the decree holder subsequently deposits the deficient stamp duty. Where adequate stamp duty is sought to be paid after the permissible period, the...

Homebuyer Can Claim Delay Compensation Through Arbitration Over RERA, Consumer Law Remedies: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that a homebuyer can claim compensation for delayed possession through arbitration even though remedies are also available under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.“Merely because the Respondent elected to invoke the arbitration agreement instead of pursuing remedies under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 or RERA, it cannot be deprived of compensation otherwise legally payable for delayed...

Delhi High Court Refers ₹1,889 Crore Jindal ITF-NTPC Arbitration Dispute To Third Judge After Split Verdict

The Delhi High Court has referred Jindal ITF Limited's dispute with NTPC Limited over an arbitral award worth about ₹1,889 crore to a third judge or a larger Bench after the two judges differed on whether the award should be upheld. The award arose from disputes over delays and deviations in a project for transporting imported coal to NTPC's Farakka Thermal Power PlantWhile Justice C. Hari Shankar upheld the award on claims concerning project delays and shortfalls, the guaranteed supply of coal...

Delhi High Court Revives Otsuka-Trans Engineers 'NIL' Award, Says Extra Work Claim Was Not Proved

The Delhi High Court on 1 September restored a “NIL” arbitral award rejecting Trans Engineers India Pvt. Ltd.'s Rs. 28.37 crore claim for additional work in Otsuka Chemical (India) Pvt. Ltd.'s Rs. 71 crore turnkey “Lion Project” for expansion of its chemical manufacturing plant at Kotputli, Rajasthan. A Division Bench of Justices Navin Chawla and Madhu Jain held that the Single Judge had exceeded the limited scope of review under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 by...

Delhi High Court Sets Aside ₹533.79 Crore Sales Tax Demands Against Railways Over Rolling Stock Transactions

The Delhi High Court has set aside assessment orders and revisional orders involving aggregate sales tax demands of ₹533,79,21,617. The demands concerned rolling stock financed through the Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC). The court held that the authorities had wrongly treated the entire rolling stock financed through IRFC as having first belonged to the Railways. They had then treated it as having been sold by the Railways to IRFC.The division bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and...

Delhi High Court Declines Writ Challenge To Gold Confiscation Over Oral Show Cause Notice Acknowledgment

The Delhi High Court has observed that a passenger's waiver of a written show cause notice under the Customs Act cannot be considered in isolation to defeat confiscation, where the record also contains the passenger's own acknowledgment that an oral show cause notice had been received.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain made the observation while dismissing a writ petition challenging an order directing absolute confiscation of two gold bars weighing 233 grams and valued...

Customs Act | Delhi High Court Refuses To Entertain Challenge To Absolute Confiscation, Cites Alternative Remedy

The Delhi High Court has refused to entertain a writ petition challenging the absolute confiscation of a 117-gram gold bar, holding that the Petitioner has an efficacious statutory remedy of filing a revision application before the Central Government under Section 129DD of the Customs Act, 1962.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain dismissed the petition of an Indian national who was intercepted at the Delhi airport after he crossed the Green Channel.A statement was...

No Automatic Release Of Seized Goods Where Customs Claims Oral Show Cause Notice: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that unconditional release of seized goods under Section 110(2) of the Customs Act, 1962, cannot be ordered merely because no written show cause notice was issued when the Customs Department specifically asserts that an oral show cause notice under Section 124(a) was issued.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Khetarpal and Shail Jain was dealing with a petition seeking release of a 100-gram gold bar seized from the petitioner at Delhi airport.Petitioner argued that...

Post-2015 Challenge Does Not Apply Amended Arbitrator Eligibility Rules To Earlier Arbitration: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently ruled that merely filing a challenge to an arbitral award after the 2015 amendments to the arbitration law does not, by itself, make the amended rules on arbitrator eligibility applicable to an arbitration that commenced earlier. Justice Jasmeet Singh observed that where arbitration proceedings had commenced before October 23, 2015, the validity of the arbitrator's appointment must be examined under the law applicable to those proceedings. The subsequent...