Calcutta High Court Sets Aside Eviction Decree Against Indian Oil As Commercial Dispute Was Heard In Non-Commercial Division

The Calcutta High Court has recently set aside an eviction decree passed against Indian Oil Corporation Limited, holding that a suit for eviction from property leased for running a petrol pump remained a commercial dispute under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015 and therefore could not have been filed in the non-commercial division of the Court. A division bench of Justice Debangsu Basak and Justice Md. Shabbar Rashidi held that the requirements of Section 2(1)(c)(vii) of the Act were satisfied,...

Supreme Court Sets Aside Excise Demand On RCF, Says Exemption On Naphtha Depends On Intended Use

The Supreme Court has set aside central excise duty demands raised against Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd over alleged wrongful availment of exemption on Naphtha procured for use in the manufacture of fertilizer, holding that in the facts of the case the benefit of the exemption notification could not be denied merely because the fuel was used in a common steam generation plant supplying different units of the factory.The case arose from a series of show cause notices issued over...

Bombay High Court Cancels “Tractorjunction” Trademark, Finds Registration Obtained In Bad Faith

The Bombay High Court has allowed a petition seeking cancellation of the trademark “TRACTORJUNCTION” registered in the name of Shivankar Gupta, holding that the registration was obtained in bad faith and was wrongly remaining on the register. In a judgment dated March 23, 2026, Justice Arif S. Doctor held that the impugned registration was liable to be removed under Section 57 of the Trade Marks Act, 1999.The court observed, “The Petition proceeds entirely on the basis that Respondent No. 1 has...

Delhi High Court Orders Status Quo On Sale Of Dr Reddy's 'Olympic' Drug In Novo Nordisk's 'Ozempic' Trademark Suit

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed status quo on the sale and distribution of Dr. Reddy's anti-diabetic drug marketed under the mark “Olympic”, after Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk filed a trademark infringement suit alleging deceptive similarity with its globally known diabetes drug “Ozempic”. Novo Nordisk approached the court, claiming that Dr. Reddy's had begun promotional activities and was on the verge of launching, or had already launched, a semaglutide injection under...

Clause Allowing Unilateral Appointment Of Arbitrator Does Not Invalidate Arbitration Agreement: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has held in a dispute between a borrower and IndusInd Bank that even if an arbitration clause permits unilateral appointment of an arbitrator by one party, such a condition would invalidate only the appointment procedure and not the arbitration agreement itself. In a judgment dated March 23, 2026, Justice Om Narayan Rai upheld the referral of the dispute to arbitration while affirming an order of the City Civil Court, Calcutta, which had stayed a civil suit filed by...

Delhi High Court Upholds ₹1.93 Crore Arbitral Award In Favour Of BEL-ACC In Dispute With NHAI

On Tuesday 24 March, the Delhi High Court upheld an arbitral award in favour of BEL-ACC (JV) granting Rs. 1.93 crore towards revised rates, overhead losses, and additional resource deployment. Justice Subramonium Prasad dismissed a petition filed by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), holding that it does not warrant interference under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. The Court held: “...the findings of the learned Arbitral Tribunal demonstrate that a...

Delhi High Court To Pass Interim Order Protecting Gautam Gambhir's Personality Rights

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it will pass an interim order to protect the personality rights of Indian cricket coach Gautam Gambhir. Justice Jyoti Singh observed during the hearing that most of the URLs identified in the suit had already been made inaccessible by intermediaries such as Meta, Google/YouTube, Amazon, and Flipkart, and said the injunction would be confined to specific links placed on record. The matter had earlier been adjourned after the court flagged that the...

Kerala High Court Upholds Relief To Kalyan Jewellers, Rules Unrealised Mark-To-Market Gains Not Taxable

The Kerala High Court on 11 March, held that unrealised gains arising from mark-to-market valuation of forward contracts are not taxable as income unless actually realised. The Division Bench comprising Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Basant Balaji dismissed the appeal filed by the Principal Commissioner of Income Tax against Kalyan Jewellers India Ltd. The judges held: “It is doubtless that, in a 'mark-to-market' forward commodities contract, the gains and losses fluctuate until the...

Right Of Redemption Ends Once Auction Notice Is Published Under SARFAESI: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday reiterated that once an auction notice is published under the SARFAESI Act, the borrower's right of redemption stands extinguished and the Debt Recovery Tribunal cannot set aside the auction sale in a manner that effectively permits redemption. The Court observed that passing such an order in the teeth of Section 13(8) of the Act and binding Supreme Court precedents constitutes a jurisdictional error. Relying on the precedents, the court reiterated that...

Supreme Court Sets Aside HC Ruling Granting Electricity Duty Relief To Reliance, Other Captive Power Industries

The Supreme Court on Wednesday set aside the Bombay High Court's 2009 rulings that had granted electricity duty relief on captive power generation to industries, including Reliance Industries Ltd., for the period between 2000 and 2005.The appeals challenged the Bombay High Court judgments dated October 5, 2009, and November 7, 2009, which had quashed state notifications withdrawing exemption and allowed full electricity duty relief to industries for the intervening period. A bench of Justices...

Dues Cannot Be Withheld Till Eternity: Delhi High Court Upholds Award Against MMTC

The Delhi High Court has upheld an arbitral award directing MMTC Limited to release withheld amounts of Rs 1.64 crore towards railway surcharge and Rs 56.93 lakh towards detention charges to Knowledge Infrastructure and another party, holding that the amounts could not be retained indefinitely when the alleged liability had not crystallised and the Railways had not processed the claims for years. The bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad, dismissing MMTC's challenge under Section 34 of the...

State Cannot Appoint Arbitrator Under Maharashtra Municipal Councils Act Without Arbitration Agreement: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a special leave petition filed by Bharat Udyog Ltd, holding that the State Government had no authority under Section 143-A(3) of the Maharashtra Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Industrial Townships Act, 1965, which deals with issuance of policy directions regarding the levy and collection of octroi, to appoint an arbitrator between a Municipal Council and its agent.The court held that the government's exercise of such power could not be equated...