Courts Cannot Grant Unconditional Stay Of Arbitral Money Awards Without Exceptional Case: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 27 May held that courts cannot grant an unconditional stay on the execution of an arbitral money award unless the award is vitiated by fraud or corruption or the award debtor establishes an “exceptional case”. A Division Bench of Justices Vivek Jain and Ajay Kumar Nirankari allowed the petition filed by Lite Bite Foods Pvt. Ltd., set aside the District Court's order granting an unconditional stay in favour of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), holding that...

Operator Of MPSTDC Motel Cannot Invoke State Ownership To Claim Property Tax Exemption: MP High Court

The Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that a private company operating a tourism corporation-owned motel for commercial purposes is liable to pay property tax and other charges and cannot claim exemption from property tax on the ground that the property belongs to the State. The court, however, ruled that the operator could not be made liable for any period before it entered into the agreement to run the motel. Justice Vishal Mishra passed the ruling in a petition filed...

Final Termination Order Not Needed To Invoke Arbitration: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 13 May held that a show cause notice proposing termination, coupled with a reply denying the allegations, constitutes a “dispute” sufficient to invoke arbitration, even in the absence of a final termination order. Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi rejected Indian Oil Corporation Limited's (IOCL) objection that the petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 was premature and appointed Justice (Retd.) Virender Singh as the sole Arbitrator....

Madhya Pradesh High Court Bars Post-Resolution Proceedings Against Corporate Debtor's “New Avatar”

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 27 May held that once a resolution plan is approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the corporate debtor in its “new avatar” cannot face pre-resolution claims or proceedings that stand extinguished under the approved plan. Justice Jai Kumar Pillai reiterated that the insolvency framework ensures a “clean slate” to the successful resolution applicant and allowed the petition filed by Pushp Ratna Realty Pvt Ltd, whose resolution plan the NCLT,...

Once GST Appellate Tribunal Is Functional, Parties Must Pursue Statutory Remedy: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that once the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) has been constituted and commenced functioning, parties should ordinarily pursue the statutory appellate remedy before the Tribunal rather than invoke the High Court's writ jurisdiction. A division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal dismissed a writ petition filed by SNS Minerals Pvt. Ltd. challenging an appellate order that had set aside a GST refund of ₹84.26 lakh...

Disputes Relating To Payment For Work Done Not Covered Under “Excepted Matters” Arbitrable: MP High Court

The Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 4 May appointed an arbitrator in a dispute between Western Railway and a service provider after rejecting the Railway's contention that the dispute was non-arbitrable, holding that claims for payment of dues for work already executed fall outside the “excepted matters” under the contract. Justice Pavan Kumar Dwivedi allowed the petition under Section 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, observing: “In view of the above analysis...

Madhya Pradesh High Court Sets Aside ₹4.56 Crore MSME Award, Says Conciliation Cannot Be an 'Eyewash'

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that conciliation under the MSMED Act cannot be reduced to an “eyewash”, while setting aside an award passed by the Madhya Pradesh Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council against Aurionpro Solutions Ltd. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf held that the Council could not proceed to arbitration without first conducting and terminating conciliation proceedings in the manner prescribed by law. Observing that...

Madhya Pradesh High Court Denies Bail To Tobacco Trader Accused Of ₹3.32 Crore Excise Duty Evasion

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Gwalior has recently refused bail to a tobacco trader accused of evading around ₹3.32 crore in central excise duty by allegedly concealing tobacco packing machines and illegally manufacturing tobacco products. Justice Rajesh Kumar Gupta observed that the trader's claim that one of the two machines found during the search was non-functional could not, at this stage, weaken the prosecution case. “Mere oral assertion during search proceedings that the machine was...

Madhya Pradesh High Court Holds MPIR Execution Not Barred by Limitation, Reads Down Rule 48-A

The Jabalpur Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on 21 April held that execution proceedings under the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Relations Act, 1960 (MPIR Act) are not barred by limitation even when initiated after more than a decade of the award. Justice Vivek Jain further read down Rule 48-A of the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Relations Rules, 1961, holding that it cannot override Section 108 of the Act by prescribing a limitation period for execution and dismissed a petition filed by the...

MP High Court Sends Bharat Commerce Asset Sale Dispute Back To Company Court To Consider Post-Auction Higher Bid

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has sent back for fresh consideration a dispute over the sale of assets of Bharat Commerce and Industries Ltd., finding that the Company Judge did not consider a bidder's arguments for entertaining a higher post-auction offer. “Upon perusal of the said impugned order, we find that the aforesaid contentions were not considered by the company judge.” A Division Bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi passed the order on April 23 in an...

Time Awaiting MCA Nod Cannot Extend Limitation For Companies Act Prosecution Where Law Mandates No Sanction: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Gwalior has recently held that where the law does not require prior government sanction to prosecute, authorities cannot rely on time spent awaiting administrative instructions to extend the two-year limitation period for filing a criminal complaint. Justice Rajesh Kumar Gupta observed, “Administrative approvals, departmental communications, or internal procedures cannot override the mandate of Sections 468 and 469 Cr.P.C. Unless the statute specifically...

Limitation In Arbitration Begins From Denial Of Claim, Not Section 21 Notice: Madhya Pradesh High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 4 May held that limitation for an arbitral claim begins when the claim is denied or repudiated, and not from the date of issuance of notice under Section 21 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. It further held that an arbitral tribunal commits patent illegality if it treats the Section 21 notice as the starting point of limitation. A Bench of Justice Vivek Jain partly allowed the appeal filed by Northern Coal Fields Ltd. (NCL) and set aside portions of...