Belagavi Court Refuses Ex Parte Injunction Against US AI Company Anthropic In Trademark Dispute

A Commercial Court in Belagavi, Karnataka has refused to grant an ex parte interim injunction to an Indian company in a trademark dispute over the mark “Anthropic” against a US AI company Anthropic PBC. The court held that there is no “imminent threat” of infringement at this stage. The court, however, issued summons to the San Francisco-based defendant and directed that emergent notice be sent in accordance with the applicable guidelines The suit was filed by Anthropic Softwares Private...

DGFT Invites Comments On Draft Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 2026

On Monday, 9 February, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued a trade notice inviting stakeholder comments on the draft Digital Trade Facilitation Bill, 2026, which aims to give statutory recognition to electronic trade documents and regulate digital identity and trust services for cross-border trade. The notice follows the Union Budget announcement on implementing BharatTradeNet as a digital public infrastructure for trade. The Ministry of Commerce noted that the current legal...

Bombay High Court Upholds NMC Regulation Allowing Only Non-Profit Companies To Set Up Medical Colleges

The Bombay High Court at Aurangabad recently upheld Regulation 6 of the Establishment of Medical Institutions, Assessment and Rating Regulations, 2023, which allows only non-profit companies to establish new medical colleges and hospitals. A division bench of Justices Sandipkumar C. More and Abasaheb D. Shinde held that the rule is a valid exercise of regulatory power and is consistent with the National Medical Commission Act, 2019. The regulations were framed by the National Medical...

Managing Director Liable For Dishonoured Company Cheques Where He Ran Its Day-to-Day Affairs: Kerala High Court

A Managing Director who was in charge of a company's day-to-day affairs and who signed its cheques can be held vicariously liable for cheque dishonour, the Kerala High Court has held, dismissing a revision plea by a company's former head. Justice M.B. Snehalatha upheld the conviction of V.J. Joseph, the former Managing Director of J and A Foundations Pvt. Ltd., in a cheque dishonour case under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. It involved three cheques issued by the company. The...

CBDT Issues Draft Income Tax Rules And Forms For New Act With 34% Fewer Rules [Read Draft Rules Here]

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has released the draft Income Tax Rules, 2026 along with the draft forms, in connection with the Income Tax Act, 2025, which is scheduled to come into force from April 1, 2026. The draft rules and forms have been placed in the public domain to invite comments and suggestions from stakeholders and the general public.As per the CBDT, the draft Income Tax Rules, 2026 will remain open for public feedback for a period of 15 days, up to February 22,...

“Additional Notices” Now Merged With Main “Notices and Orders” Tab On GST Portal

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has merged the “Additional Notices & Orders” tab with the main “Notices and Orders” section on the GST Portal, consolidating all issued notices and orders into a single interface. Taxpayers can now view all notices and orders on the portal by navigating to Dashboard → Services → User Services → View Notices and Orders.Also Read: Not Reasonable To Expect Taxpayer To Check Every Tab On GST Portal: Calcutta High Court Orders Appeal To Be Heard...

GSTN Introduces New Online Module To Unblock Barred Returns On Portal

The Goods and Services Tax Network (GSTN) has now launched a new “Application for Unbarring Returns” module on the GST Portal, allowing taxpayers to seek online removal of system-imposed restrictions on filing GST returns. The module provides a legal and digital process to address cases where returns are barred after three years of non-filing.Under Rule 59(6) of the CGST Rules, read with Sections 39 and 47 of the CGST Act, the GST system automatically bars the filing of returns if a registered...

Deep Tech Startups To Retain Status For 20 years Under New DPIIT Notification

On 4 February, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, through the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), issued a notification extending enhanced tax incentives and revising the startup recognition criteria for “Deep Tech Startups” (DTSs) DTSs are entities engaged in developing advanced scientific or engineering solutions involving high research and development intensity, significant intellectual property creation, long gestation periods, and elevated technical or...

Mere Renting Of Residential Flat Does Not Take Away Buyer's Consumer Rights: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has clarified that the mere act of leasing or renting out a residential flat does not by itself take a homebuyer outside the protection of consumer law. The Court ruled that a buyer can be excluded from the definition of “consumer” only if it is established that the dominant purpose of purchasing the flat was commercial in nature. The ruling arose from a dispute relating to a residential project in Gurugram. A Bench of Justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and N.V....

CCI Orders Investigation Into IndiGo Over Alleged Abuse of Dominance After Mass Flight Cancellations

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday ordered an investigation into InterGlobe Aviation Ltd., which operates IndiGo, after forming a prima facie view that the airline may have abused its dominant position by cancelling a large number of flights in early December 2025 and leaving passengers to book tickets at sharply higher fares. The order was passed by a coram comprising Chairperson Ravneet Kaur and Members Anil Agrawal, Sweta Kakkad, and Deepak Anurag. At the threshold, the...

UltraTech Cement Receives GST Demands of ₹15.26 Crore from Tamil Nadu Authorities

UltraTech Cement Limited recently informed stock exchanges that the State GST authorities in Tamil Nadu have issued two orders raising a cumulative tax demand of Rs. 15.26 crore, along with interest and penalties, on allegations of excess Input Tax Credit (ITC) claims. As per the disclosure, the orders were passed by the Assistant Commissioner, State Goods and Services Tax, Trichy, and were received by the company on January 29, 2026. One order relates to the financial year 2022-23,...

Nearly 9 In 10 Pre-Institution Mediation Cases In 2024–25 Recorded As Non-Starter, Government Data Shows

Nearly nine out of ten applications filed for mandatory pre-institution mediation under the Commercial Courts Act were recorded as “non-starter” in 2024–25, according to data shared by the Ministry of Law and Justice in Parliament. The data was placed before the Rajya Sabha in a written reply by Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal. It shows that 59,568 applications were received for pre-institution mediation during the year. Of these, 52,730...