Cheque Not Legally Enforceable For Full Amount If Part Payment Not Endorsed: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that a cheque presented for its full value despite prior part payments without endorsement does not represent a legally enforceable debt, while upholding an acquittal in a cheque dishonour case. Justice A. Badharudeen, while dismissing an appeal filed by complainant Danikutti Philip, held, "However, when part payment(s) is/are made and the indorsement mandated under Section 56 of the NI Act failed to be recorded, presenting the cheque for the whole sum, of which a...

Service Of Notice On One Partner Deemed Service On All Under Presidency Towns Insolvency Act: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has held that service of an insolvency notice on a firm or any one of its partners amounts to valid service on all partners under the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act, 1909. The court rejected the argument that limitation should be counted from the last date of service on each partner. A single-judge bench of Justice Jitendra Jain was hearing an insolvency petition where the judgment debtors challenged its maintainability under Section 12(1)(c) of the Presidency Towns...

MP High Court Restores Suit, Says Bar On Unregistered Partnerships Not Applicable As Claim Not Made As Partner

The Madhya Pradesh High Court at Jabalpur has set aside a trial court order rejecting a suit at the threshold, holding that the bar on suits by unregistered firms could not be invoked where the plaintiff was seeking declaration of his rights in the land on the basis of the money he had invested. A single judge bench of Justice Deepak Khot observed, "In fact, it is a case of the appellant that the appellant has invested money with defendants, who are said to be partners in the partnership firm...

Shareholder Has No Proprietary Rights Over Company's Digital Assets: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court recently refused to quash an FIR registered against the Director of a Bengaluru-based algorithmic trading company for allegedly stealing, copying, and deleting the company's proprietary source code and trading algorithms, holding that a shareholder's stake does not confer any proprietary right over the company's digital assets. The single-judge bench of Justice M. Nagaprasanna held that the issue was not purely civil in nature; the court observed that the allegations...

Delhi High Court Lets Meta Approach NCDRC Against ₹10 Lakh Penalty In Walkie-Talkie Listings Case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday permitted Meta Platforms Inc. to withdraw its writ petition challenging a Rs. 10 lakh penalty imposed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) for alleged misleading advertisements and unlawful listing of walkie-talkies on its Facebook Marketplace platform, and granted liberty to approach the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC).A single-judge bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav gave Meta liberty to challenge the order...

'PILs Filed At Behest Of Rivals Harm Corporate Reputation': Bombay High Court Rejects FIR Plea Against Reliance Industries

The Bombay High Court on Friday expressed its concern that writ petitions masked as public interest litigations are often filed at the instance of a failed competitor or a rival business house while dismissing a petition seeking registration of an FIR against Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) over allegations of illegal extraction of gas from ONGC wells. A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Suman Shyam noted that such petitions can cause serious harm to the reputation and...

No 'Deemed Liability' For Company Directors Under Negotiable Instruments Act: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently held that there is no deemed liability for a director merely by virtue of his designation, emphasising that specific factual averments in a complaint linking a director to the day-to-day management of the company are a jurisdictional prerequisite under Section 141 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. The court said that silence in a complaint regarding a director's role constitutes a substantive failure to establish a prima facie case. Justice Uday Kumar,...

Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill 2026: Govt Proposes Decriminalising Minor Comapanies Act Defaults, CSR Changes

The Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, proposing changes to the Companies Act, 2013, and the Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008, that would remove criminal liability for several procedural violations, revise penalty provisions, and give wider statutory powers to regulators. One of the central proposals in the bill is to move a number of compliance-related offenses out of the criminal framework. At present, certain technical defaults can lead...

Registrar Of Firms Cannot Refuse To Record Changes To Partnership Deed: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court at Goa has recently held that the Registrar of Firms does not have the power to refuse or withhold recording changes incorporated in a partnership deed under Section 63(1) of the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, holding that the Registrar's role is limited to recording such changes. A division bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit S. Jamsandekar said: “Sub-section (1) of Section 63 of the Partnership Act only empowers the Registrar to record changes in the constitution...

Cheque Bounce Case Cannot Be Dismissed For Want Of Service Report; MP High Court Frames Guidelines On Presumption Of Service

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that non-production of a service report or postal track report cannot by itself be a ground to dismiss a complaint under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act at the threshold, particularly when the complainant asserts that the statutory notice was duly dispatched to the correct address of the accused. Justice Himanshu Joshi observed that once a notice is properly addressed, prepaid, and sent by registered post, a presumption of service arises...

No Separate GST Treatment For Ultra-Processed Foods, High-Fat Items: Finance Ministry Tells Lok Sabha

The Union government has informed the Lok Sabha that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) framework does not provide separate tax treatment for ultra-processed foods (UPFs) or foods high in fat, sugar, or salt (HFSS), and that no formal assessment has been undertaken on the potential health and economic benefits of imposing higher taxes on such products. Responding to a question asked by Congress MP G. Kumar Naik from Raichur in Karnataka, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said on...

Courts Must Be Slow To Grant Interim Relief In Tender Matters: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently set aside an interim order passed by the Karnataka High Court directing revision of ethanol allocation in favour of VINP Distilleries and Sugars Pvt. Ltd. under a government tender for the Ethanol Supply Year (ESY) 2025–26, observing that courts should exercise caution while granting interim relief in contractual and tender matters. “In matters relating to contracts/tenders writ courts should remain circumspect and slow in passing interim orders which may have the...