Delhi High Court Sets Aside Ex Parte Order Based On Show Cause Notice Uploaded Only On GST Portal

The Delhi High Court recently set aside an ex-parte order passed against a taxpayer under the Central Goods and Services Tax Act 2017, noting that the show cause notice had been uploaded only on the GST portal.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar remitted the matter to the Adjudicating Authority for fresh adjudication in terms of the directions passed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Luxmi Traders v. Union Territory of Chandigarh &...

Delhi High Court Allows Delhi Airport To Approach Adjudicating Authority For ITC Claim In Light Of Safari Retreats

The Delhi High Court has disposed of two connected writ petitions, including one filed by Delhi International Airport Ltd, challenging the denial of input tax credit (ITC) under Section 17(5)(c) and (d) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017.The division bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar granted it liberty to approach the Adjudicating Authority for consideration of its claim in light of the Supreme Court's ruling in Chief Commissioner of Central Goods and...

Conditional Votes Cannot Be Treated As Unconditional Approval Of Companies Act Revival Scheme: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court recently ruled that votes cast “for, with modification” cannot automatically be treated as unconditional assent to a Revival Scheme under the Companies Act, 1956.The court must first examine the legal effect of the conditions attached to those votes before deciding whether they amount to approval of the Scheme.“A vote cast “for” the Scheme simpliciter expresses assent to the Scheme as placed before the meeting. A vote cast “for, with modification” is, by its very...

Delhi High Court Upholds Contempt Conviction In Siemens Software Piracy Case, Cuts Jail Term To One Month

The Delhi High Court has upheld the civil contempt finding against Nilesh Dhanukar for obstructing a court-appointed Local Commissioner during an inspection into alleged unauthorised use of Siemens Industry Software's “NX” software. However, the court reduced his detention in civil prison from two months to one month, citing his family circumstances.A Division Bench of Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora was hearing Dhanukar's appeal against a Saket commercial court...

Delhi High Court Upholds Award Setting Aside ₹8.55 Crore DoT Demand Against Sterlite Technologies

The Delhi High Court has upheld an arbitral award in favour of Sterlite Technologies Limited, rejecting the Union government's challenge to an award that had set aside a ₹8.55 crore demand raised by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).Justice Avneesh Jhingan ruled that the arbitrator's finding that Sterlite provided only passive telecom infrastructure, rather than unlicensed end-to-end bandwidth services. This, according to the court, was a plausible view that did not warrant interference...

Advocates Acting As Insolvency Professionals Must Register Under GST, Pay Under Forward Charge: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court on Thursday held that advocates rendering services as insolvency professionals must obtain GST registration, ruling that such services are subject to the forward charge mechanism and not the reverse charge mechanism applicable to legal services provided by advocates. A bench of Justices Pratibha M. Singh and Shail Jain passed the judgment on a petition filed by advocate Kanwal Chaudhary challenging an Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) order dated March 9,...

S.147A Income Tax Act Challenge: Delhi High Court Orders Status Quo On Recovery, Penalty Proceedings

The Delhi High Court has directed that the status quo be maintained on recovery and penalty proceedings against two assessees who have challenged the constitutional validity of the newly inserted Section 147A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, which retrospectively clarifies the role of the Jurisdictional Assessing Officer (JAO) in reassessment proceedings.The division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Rajneesh Kumar Gupta passed the direction while allowing applications filed by Neena Wadhwa and...

Delhi High Court Upholds Rejection Of Esteve Pharma's Tramadol-Celecoxib Co-Crystal Patent

The Delhi High Court on 7 August dismissed an appeal filed by Esteve Pharmaceuticals S.A. against the rejection of its patent application for a co-crystal of tramadol and coxibs. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela held that the claimed invention lacked inventive step under Section 2(1)(ja) of the Patents Act, 1970, as the prior art documents, when read together, rendered the invention obvious. He held: “Therefore, reading of the prior art…which discloses the combination of tramadol and celecoxib as a...

Why Can Scammers Access Meta's Copyright Strike Tool While Creators Are Denied? Delhi High Court Asks

The Delhi High Court has asked Meta to place on record its policy, guidelines, and eligibility criteria for access to its "Rights Manager" tool, questioning why the anti-plagiarism tool is not available to content creators with large followings while scammers appear to be getting access to it.Rights Manager is a Meta tool that allows content creators and rights holders to identify when their original content is copied or uploaded by another person and take action against the matching...

Delhi High Court Grants Khushi Kapoor Relief Against Unauthorised Merchandise, Obscene Content

The Delhi High Court has indicated it will order the takedown of links carrying obscene and pornographic content and links selling unauthorised merchandise bearing actor Khushi Kapoor's persona. Even as the court left the larger dispute over "fan pages" open for a later hearing, Justice Jyoti Singh confined today's relief to unauthorized merchandise sales and obscene or pornographic content.Kapoor, described in the plea as an actress and fashion icon, moved court against unknown persons,...

Delhi High Court Temporarily Restrains Mumbai Café Operator From Using 'MOCHA KAFFEE' Trademark

The Delhi High Court has temporarily restrained Mumbai-based café operator Mocha Kaffee from offering, marketing or advertising its business under the “MOCHA KAFFEE” mark. The court found that the mark was deceptively similar to the registered “MOCHA” trademarks of Impresario Entertainment and Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.Justice Jyoti Singh granted an ex parte ad interim injunction after finding that Impresario had made out a prima facie case of trademark infringement and passing off. The court also...

Evidentiary Value Of Kachcha Parchis, Electronic Data Must Be Examined By GST Appellate Authority: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that questions concerning the admissibility, authentication and evidentiary value of electronic data and handwritten 'kachcha parchis' relied upon in a GST case should be raised before the statutory appellate authority rather than examined in writ proceedings.The division bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain was dealing with a batch of writ petitions challenging orders passed under the Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) Act against several entities...