Supreme Court & High Courts
Courts Cannot Decide Arbitrability While Appointing Arbitrators: Supreme Court Dismisses Motilal Oswal's Appeal
The Supreme Court of India recently held that courts cannot decide questions of arbitrability while appointing arbitrators, even when a party relies on a special statute to oppose arbitration. At the Section 11 stage, the court said judges are required to “confine to the examination of the existence of an arbitration agreement” and nothing beyond that. On that basis, the court dismissed an appeal filed by Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited challenging the appointment of an...
Procuring Authority Liable For Differential GST In Government Contracts: Madras High Court Reiterates
Reiterating that additional GST arising from the rollout of the GST regime in government works contracts must be borne by the procuring authority, the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu Housing Board to consider a contractor's claim for reimbursement of differential tax.A Bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar relying on settled law, held that contractors cannot be fastened with liability for differential GST, interest, or penalties when tax was discharged strictly in accordance...
IGST Refund Claims Cannot Be Rejected Under Omitted Law: Bombay High Court
The Bombay High Court has held that refund claims cannot be thrown out on the basis of a statutory rule that no longer exists and must be looked at afresh once such a rule is omitted (deleted) without any saving clause. The court set aside orders rejecting Integrated Goods and Services Tax refunds claimed by Kelvion India Private Limited and sent the matter back to the tax department for a fresh decision. A Division Bench of Justice M S Sonak and Justice Advait M Sethna noted that the...
Bombay High Court Restrains GetShaadi.com For Infringing Shaadi.com Trademark, Imposes ₹25 Lakh Costs
The Bombay High Court has permanently restrained the operators of www.getshaadi.com, a matrimonial and matchmaking website, holding that it infringes and passes off the trademark Shaadi.com.In a judgment delivered on January 6, 2026, Justice Arif S Doctor ruled in favour of People Interactive, which operates the popular matrimonial platform “Shaadi.com.” The court held that the rival operator's adoption and use of “getshaadi.com” for identical matrimonial and matchmaking services violated...
Commercial Courts Cannot Hear Non-Commercial Arbitration Disputes Without Specified Claim Value: MP High Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has clarified that arbitration challenges arising from non-commercial disputes with no determinable monetary value cannot be heard by Commercial Courts, even if such courts function at the level of a Civil Judge (Senior Division). The court clarified that the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 applies only when two conditions are met, the dispute must be commercial in nature and must have a specified value as defined under the law. Justice Vivek Jain said that where...
Bombay High Court Quashes Tax Reassessment Against Hospital Over Unsigned Reopening Notice
The Bombay High Court has set aside reassessment and penalty proceedings against Ambernath City Hospital Pvt. Ltd., holding that the Income Tax Department lacked jurisdiction to reopen the assessment, as the mandatory notice issued under Section 148 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, was unsigned.Relying on its own decision in Prakash Krishnavtar Bhardwaj vs. Income Tax Officer,(2023), the court held, “the Notice issued under Section 148, having no signature affixed to it, either digitally or...
Delhi High Court Orders Takedown Of Unauthorized Images of Youtuber Bhuvan Bam
Bhuvan Bam, a popular YouTube content creator and web-series actor, approached the Delhi High Court seeking protection of his personality rights and restraint against the unauthorized use of his images by various unknown individuals and entities.Justice Jyoti Singh, while hearing the matter on January 13, 2026, directed the takedown of the unauthorized images but declined to record any prima facie finding on the issue of personality rights at this stage.The Court orally observed that on the very...
Kerala General Sales Tax Act | Once Limitation Lapses, Assessment Cannot Be Revived: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court has held that assessment proceedings initiated beyond the statutory limitation period under the Kerala General Sales Tax Act, 1963 (KGST Act), are unsustainable in law and liable to be set aside. Justice Harisankar V. Menon noted that the pre-assessment notice under Section 17(3) of the KGST Act was issued against Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. for the assessment year 2007–08 only on August 25, 2017. The assessment order was passed later, on January 28, 2019. This was...
Promise To Arrange Funds In Case of Default Does Not Make Promoter A Guarantor: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India has held that a promoter's promise to arrange funds to help a borrower meet financial covenants does not amount to a contract of guarantee under the Indian Contract Act and cannot be used to fasten insolvency liability on the promoter. A bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Alok Aradhe said that for an obligation to qualify as a guarantee under Section 126 of the Act, there must be a clear and unambiguous promise by the surety to repay the borrower's debt if the...