Madras High Court Quashes CESTAT Chennai Order For Deciding Issues Not Under Appeal

The Madras High Court has pulled up the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, Chennai for overstepping its mandate, quashing its order and holding that the Tribunal cannot decide issues that were never appealed before it. A Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi said that although Section 129-B of the Customs Act, 1962 confers wide powers on the Customs, Excise and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal, those powers are not unbridled."It is true that Section...

Madras High Court Rejects Vegan Brand Origin Nutrition's Interim Plea To Restrain 'ORIGIN FRESH' Trademark

The Madras High Court has refused to grant interim relief to Origin Nutrition Private Limited, a maker of vegan protein products, in its trademark infrigment dispute with Tech7 Phyll Private Limited over the use of the name “ORIGIN/ORIGIN FRESH” for selling fruits and vegetables. In an order dated December 19, 2025, Justice N Senthilkumar said that “ORIGIN” is a common, generic word and cannot be claimed as an exclusive trademark. The court also pointed out that the two companies are in very...

Madras High Court Refuses To Lift Interim Ban On YouTube Channels Streaming Raj Television's Tamil Films

The Madras High Court has refused to lift an interim injunction against a YouTuber accused of illegally streaming Tamil films claimed by Raj Television Network Limited. The case centres on the Tamil films 16 Vayathinile, Kalangarai Vilakkam and Kudiyirundha Kovil. Raj Television says it holds exclusive copyright over these films, including their digital and streaming rights. Justice N Senthilkumar, in an order passed on December 12, 2025, rejected Palanivel Dhaksnamoorthy's plea to lift an ex...

Madras High Court Sets Aside GST Demand For Not Considering CBIC Circulars Cited By Taxpayer

The Madras High Court has set aside a GST demand on a corporate guarantee after finding that the tax department failed to consider CBIC circulars relied upon by the taxpayer while raising the assessment.Allowing the writ petition, Justice G R Swaminathan held that an assessment order cannot survive if the tax department fails to consider the defence raised by the taxpayer. The court held, “When a defense raised by the noticee is not considered in the final order, the order is vulnerable on...

Madras High Court Upholds Trade Marks Registry Order Rejecting “Fresh Not Frozen” Mark

The Madras High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by Freshtohome Foods Private Limited, a Bangalore-based online grocery delivery platform against a 2019 order of the Trade Marks Registry rejecting its trademark application for the brand “FRESH NOT FROZEN”. Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on December 18, 2025. The court held that the proposed mark was deceptively similar to an existing registered trademark, “FRESH N FROZEN”, which covers similar food-related retail services. The...

Madras High Court Rejects Minister I Periyasamy's Plea Against ED Probe, Tells Him To Approach PMLA Adjudicating Authority First

The Madras High Court has dismissed a plea filed by Tamil Nadu Minister for Rural Development I Periyasamy and his family members challenging an ECIR registered against them by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money laundering case. The bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan noted that the parties had filed the plea without approaching the adjudicating authority first. The bench thus directed them to approach the adjudicating...

Income Tax Act | Long Term Capital Gains Exemption Available Even If Residential House Was Demolished Before Sale: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court held that the Long-Term Capital Gains exemption under Section 54 of the Income Tax Act cannot be denied merely because the residential house was demolished before its sale. The bench stated that since the sale took place later and the assessee reinvested the capital gains in another house within the prescribed time, the exemption is allowable. Section 54 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, provides a Long-Term Capital Gains (LTCG) exemption when an individual or HUF...

Entity Recognised As Charitable Under Income Tax Act With S.12A Registration Cannot Be Treated Otherwise Under FCRA: Madras High Court

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has held that a trust already recognised as a charitable organisation under the Income Tax Act cannot be ignored as such while considering its application under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010 (FCRA). A Single Judge Bench of Justice G.R. Swaminathan was dealing with a writ petition filed by Arsha Vidya Parampara Trust challenging the rejection of its FCRA registration by the Ministry of Home Affairs . The Bench stated that when ...

Madras High Court Annual Tax Digest 2025

Direct TaxFAOs And JAOs Have Concurrent Jurisdiction For Assessment, Re-assessment Or Re-Computation U/S 147 Income Tax Act: Madras High CourtCase Title: Mark Studio India Private Limited v. Income Tax Officer and OthersCase No: W.P.Nos.25223 & 25227 of 2024The Madras High Court recently clarified that both the Faceless Assessment Officer and Jurisdictional Assessment Officer have concurrent jurisdiction as far as assessment, re-assessment or re-computation under Section 147 of the Income...

Income Tax | Revised 2024 Compounding Guidelines Cannot Be Applied After Case Attains Finality: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court held that once the assessee's entitlement to compounding had attained finality through earlier orders, then the Income Tax Department could not apply the revised Compounding Guidelines. Justice C. Saravanan referred to the Explanation to Section 279(6) of the Income Tax Act, 1961 and noted that the new compounding Guidelines dated 17.10.2024 bearing reference F.No.285/08/2014-IT (Inv.V) would apply, only if a new application is/was filed in terms of paragraph 3.2...

Income Tax | Govt Grant/Subsidy Under Rehabilitation Scheme Is Capital Receipt, Not Taxable As Revenue: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court held that the grant-in-aid/subsidy received by the assessee under a government rehabilitation scheme is a capital receipt and is not taxable as revenue. Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and G. Arul Murugan examined whether the grant-in-aid/subsidy received by the assessee from the Government under the rehabilitation scheme should be treated as a revenue receipt in the hands of the assessee or as a capital receipt, taking it out of the purview of the...

Madras High Court Grants Inventor Opportunity To Demonstrate His Solar Power Device Before Patent Office

The Madras High Court has directed the Patent Office to grant an inventor one opportunity to demonstrate the working of his invention, holding that a potentially viable invention should not be rejected without adequate consideration.Justice N Anand Venkatesh passed the order on December 18, 2025, while disposing of a writ petition filed by Kannan Gopalakrishnan challenging the rejection of his patent review application relating to an invention titled “Solar Supplemental Power Source.” The...