Madras High Court Refuses To Quash CBI FIR Against Ind Barath Power Directors Despite Withdrawal Of Fraud Tag

The Madras High Court has refused to quash a CBI FIR against the directors of Ind Barath Power Gencom Limited. It held that the subsequent withdrawal of the company's "Fraud" classification by the lending bank does not wipe out criminal proceedings arising from allegations of diversion of funds, fabrication of records, and other cognisable offences. The court also observed that the FIR was not registered solely on the basis of the forensic audit that led to the fraud classification. Justice...

Registered Mortgage Does Not Bar Arbitration In Simple Money Recovery Claims: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court on 1 July held that a simple money recovery claim is arbitrable even if the underlying loan transaction is secured by a registered mortgage deed, provided the lender does not seek enforcement, foreclosure or sale of the mortgaged property. Justice S. Sounthar dismissed an appeal filed by borrowers Marsalin and Mary Rani Subi, upheld an arbitral award directing them to pay Rs. 15,70,637 to Shriram City Union Finance Limited, and affirmed the Principal District Judge,...

Madras High Court Restrains Online Piracy Of Idhayam Murali Ahead Of Release

The Madras High Court has granted ad interim injunctions restraining internet service providers and cable TV operators from infringing the copyright in the Tamil film Idhayam Murali, which is scheduled to release on July 10. Justice K. Kumaresh Babu passed the common order on two applications filed by Dawn Pictures Private Limited, the producer of the film, in a suit seeking remedies against apprehended copyright infringement. "In matters of this nature, it is likely that irreversible injury...

Madras High Court Quashes Reassessment Based On Material Already Examined During Original Assessment

The Madras High Court has recently set aside reassessment proceedings initiated against an engineering equipment manufacturer after finding that the Income Tax Department reopened the assessment based on material that had already been disclosed and examined during the original assessment. Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy observed that the reassessment amounted to an impermissible change of opinion. "On comparing the above reasons for reopening with the reply of the petitioner to the notice...

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...