Madras HC Upholds Jurisdiction Of Assessing Officers To Issue Reassessment Notices Under Income Tax Act

The Madras High Court has held that Jurisdictional Assessing Officers have the authority to issue reassessment notices under Sections 148A, 148 and 147 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, observing that the retrospective insertion of Section 147A has clarified their jurisdiction to initiate proceedings for income escaping assessment. Justice C. Saravanan dismissed a batch of writ petitions challenging reassessment proceedings initiated by Jurisdictional Assessing Officers, holding that the petitioners...

Madras High Court Holds Employer Cannot Grant Section 89 Tax Relief Without Form 10E From Employees

The Madras High Court on 24 June held that employers deducting Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) on voluntary retirement compensation cannot be faulted for not granting relief under Section 89 of the Income Tax Act (relief for salary received in arrears or advance) unless employees submit the prescribed Form 10E. Justice C. Saravanan allowed the writ petition filed by the Hosur Bata Employees Union in part and directed the Income Tax Department to process the income tax returns of affected employees...

Madras High Court Holds ITC Claim Based On Fabricated Agreement Invalid, Upholds GST Demand

The Madras High Court on 30 June held that input tax credit (ITC) cannot be claimed on the basis of a fabricated contractual arrangement, where the agreement and supporting invoices do not establish a genuine business transaction. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy dismissed two writ petitions filed by a proprietorship challenging GST assessment orders for financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24, thereby upholding the demand of tax, interest and penalty confirmed under Section 74 of the GST...

Madras High Court Protects Travel Content From Alleged AI Scraping, Grants Interim Relief

The Madras High Court on 1 July granted an ad-interim injunction in favour of Keshan Infotech Pvt Ltd, restraining alleged unauthorised scraping and AI-driven use of its digital travel content. Justice K. Kumaresh Babu held that the unauthorised use of proprietary content as training data or prompts for Large Language Models (LLMs) raises a prima facie case of copyright infringement warranting immediate judicial intervention. He directed that “there shall be an order of injunction as prayed...

Mere Intimation To GST Authorities Does Not Create ITC Right Or Bar Section 74 Action: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that mere communication to GST authorities expressing an intention to avail Input Tax Credit (ITC) does not create any legal entitlement to such credit and cannot shield a taxpayer from proceedings for wrongful availment under the GST law. Justice C. Saravanan dismissed the petition filed by RMZ Infinity (Chennai) Pvt. Ltd., now known as Chennai Business Tower Private Limited, which had challenged an order confirming denial of ineligible ITC of Rs. 92.29 crore for...

Madras High Court Allows Dynamic Blocking Of Pirated Content of YRF's 'Alpha' Starring Alia Bhatt

The Madras High Court on 3 July granted an ad-interim injunction protecting the copyright in Yash Raj Films' upcoming movie “Alpha”, starring Alia Bhatt restraining infringement ahead of its theatrical release and permitting dynamic blocking of infringing online content, subject to conditions imposed by it. Justice K. Kumaresh Babu sitting on the original civil jurisdiction of the Court, allowed applications against Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and other respondents, including internet service...

Madras HC Holds Civil Dispute Over Wharfage Refund Cannot Be Tried As Criminal Offence, Quashes CBI Case

The Madras High Court on 8 June quashed a CBI charge sheet, holding that authorities cannot convert a civil dispute relating to refund of wharfage charges into criminal proceedings alleging cheating, forgery, or corruption. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan allowed the petition and quashed the criminal proceedings against all accused. He held: “...it was found that there was no excess wharfage charges amount and as such requested the importer to return the same, on the said...

Madras High Court Grants Pre-Release Anti-Piracy Injunctions For 'Welcome to the Jungle,' 'Balaramana Dinagalu'

The Madras High Court has granted ad-interim injunctions restraining internet service providers and cable TV operators from infringing the copyright of two films ahead of their theatrical release. The films are the Kannada movie "Balaramana Dinagalu," starring Vinod Prabhakar and Priya Anand, and the Hindi comedy "Welcome to the Jungle," headlined by Akshay Kumar. Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed separate common orders in each case on June 25, 2026, a day before both films were scheduled to...

Madras High Court Restores Arbitral Award, Says District Judge Erred In Calling It 'Hypothetical'

The Madras High Court at Madurai has recently set aside an order of the Madurai Principal District Judge insofar as it annulled an arbitral award granting ₹14.04 lakh as an early completion bonus to a contractor in a dispute with the Union of India over the construction of a Kendriya Vidyalaya school building at Sivagangai. The bench of Justice V. Lakshminarayanan held that the Principal District Judge's characterisation of the arbitral award as "hypothetical" reflected non-application of mind....

Madras High Court Dismisses Intellectual Property Suit Against Tamil Film 'Saamaniyan' After Release

The Madras High Court has dismissed a suit seeking to restrain the release and promotion of the Tamil film "Saamaniyan," holding that the reliefs sought had become infructuous after the film was released in 2024.Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed the judgment on June 22, 2026, in a suit filed by M. Viyan Aarman, proprietor of Art Addict, who had claimed exclusive trademark and copyright rights over the title "SAAMANIYAN."The proprietor had filed the suit against Etecetra Entertainment and others,...

Why Madras High Court Refused To Order Probe Into Tamil Nadu CM's Financial Disclosures In Election Affidavit?

The Madras High Court has recently refused to direct the Income Tax Department to investigate the financial disclosures made by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief C. Joseph Vijay in his election affidavit. It held that disputes over such disclosures can only be adjudicated through an election petition and not in writ proceedings. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan dismissed a writ petition seeking directions to...

Madras High Court Allows Telecom Contractor To Bid In Fresh BSNL Tender Pending Arbitration

The Madras High Court has granted interim relief to Universal Tele Services by allowing it to submit a bid in a fresh Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) tender for telecom operations. The dispute over the termination of its contracts will meanwhile be decided through arbitration. The court directed that BSNL should process the bid only after the arbitrator passes orders. Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed the order. The court also clarified an earlier order appointing former High Court judge...