Delhi High Court Sets Aside Arbitration Against Bhushan Steel Following Tata Steel Takeover

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral tribunal order that allowed arbitration to continue against Tata Steel, formerly Bhushan Steel, even after its resolution plan under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code was approved. A single-judge bench of Justice Amit Sharma allowed Tata Steel's writ petition and quashed the tribunal's October 7, 2020 order. The court said that once a resolution plan is approved, it binds all creditors. “The Resolution Plan had attained finality and would be...

Immunity From Penalty Cannot Be Denied Once Conditions Under Income Tax Act Are Met: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court has recently clarified that the income tax department cannot deny immunity from penalty for under-reporting of income once a taxpayer meets the conditions prescribed under the law.A bench of Justice Om Narayan Rai said Section 270AA of the Income Tax Act leaves no discretion with the Assessing Officer. The provision allows immunity where the taxpayer has paid the tax demand, has not filed an appeal, and has applied for immunity within the prescribed time. It also requires...

Appeal Against Commercial Court Judgment Lies Under Commercial Courts Act, Not CPC: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has said that a judgment delivered by a Commercial Court carries the force of a decree, and an appeal against it must be filed under the Commercial Courts Act rather than under the Civil Procedure Code. A division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal held that such appeals must be filed under Section 13(1A) of the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, and registered as First Appeals before the Commercial Appellate Division of the High Court. “The...

Secured Creditors Must Act Speedily After SARFAESI Notice; Delay Defeats Law's Purpose: MP High Court

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that once a secured creditor initiates recovery proceedings under the SARFAESI Act, it must act without delay, failing which the very purpose of the law stands defeated. A division bench of Justice Vivek Rusia and Justice Pradeep Mittal, while dismissing a review petition filed by Cent Bank Home Finance Ltd, observed that lenders cannot remain inactive after issuing a demand notice under Section 13(2) of the SARFAESI Act. “After initiating the proceedings...

Court Intervention In Arbitrator Appointment Required Only If Institution Fails: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that court intervention for the appointment of arbitrators is required only when an arbitral institution fails to discharge its designated functions in appointing an arbitrator. A single-judge bench of Justice Sandeep V Marne held that once parties agree to resolve disputes through an arbitral institution, the appointment procedure prescribed by that institution must be followed.“In case of an institutional arbitration, application for appointment of...

Income Tax | Shares Received On Amalgamation Can Be Taxed as Business Income If Held As Stock-in-Trade: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that when shares held as stock-in-trade are replaced with shares of another company under an amalgamation scheme, the allotment can result in taxable business income, provided the new shares can be realised in money and have a definite value. The bench, consisting of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan, opined that "where the shares of an amalgamating company, held as stock-in-trade, are substituted by shares of the amalgamated company pursuant to a scheme of...

Delhi High Court Declines To Cancel 'Patanjali Gonyle' Trademark On Plea By Holy Cow Foundation

The Delhi High Court on Friday declined to cancel the trademark registration of “Patanjali Gonyle Floor Cleaner,” holding that the mark lawfully belongs to Patanjali Gramodyog Nyas and does not infringe the rights claimed by Holy Cow Foundation. A Single-Judge Bench of Justice Tejas Karia, in a judgment delivered on January 9, 2026, dismissed a trademark rectification plea filed by Holy Cow Foundation, which also sells a cow-urine-based cleaner product under thr same name, seeking removal...

Telangana High Court Strikes Down GST Rule Mandating Monthly ITC Distribution By Input Service Distributor

The Telangana High Court has struck down a GST rule that required an Input Service Distributor, typically the head office of a company with multiple branches, to pass on the input tax credit of a month to its branch units in the same month. A division bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G. M. Mohiuddin ruled that Rule 39(1)(a) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Rules, 2017, was ultra vires Section 20 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017. The bench said, “Rule...

Delhi High Court Declares “SOCIAL” A Well-Known Trademark, Bars Rival Café From Using “The Shake Social”

The Delhi High Court has declared Impresario Entertainment's “SOCIAL” mark a well-known trademark in India and barred a Gujarat-based café from using the name “The Shake Social.” Justice Tejas Karia passed the order on January 9, 2026, in a trademark infringement and passing-off suit against a café operating in Valsad and Navsari, Gujarat.Granting permanent injunctive relief in favour of Impresario, the Court observed, “A clear case of infringement of the Plaintiff's Marks is made out. The...

Delhi High Court Pulls Up Income Tax CPC For Tax Recovery Despite Stay, Issues Directions For Coordination

The Delhi High Court has pulled up the Income Tax Department's Centralised Processing Centre for recovering tax dues from a taxpayer even though a stay on recovery was already in place, saying such lapses are unacceptable in a fully digitized system. A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar said the department cannot plead ignorance once a stay order is passed. “In the era of computerization, where even assessments are made online, Income Tax returns are filed online, appeals...

Uttarakhand High Court Says Taxpayer Seeking GST Installment Over Poor Finances Can Approach Commissioner

The Uttarakhand High Court has declined to entertain a writ petition filed by a GST-registered taxpayer seeking permission to pay tax dues in installments, citing the availability of a statutory remedy under the GST law. A division bench of Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Subhash Upadhyay was hearing a challenge to an order dated January 22, 2025, passed by the Assistant Commissioner, State Tax, Gopeshwar, Chamoli, by which a GST liability of over Rs 7.5 lakhs was fastened on the...

Calcutta High Court Halts GST Recovery From Trader's Electronic Credit Ledger Pending Rectification Plea

The Calcutta High Court has stepped in to stop GST recovery from a trader's electronic credit ledger, saying the department must first decide a pending rectification plea that could wipe out the entire demand. Justice Om Narayan Rai passed the order on December 22, 2025, while hearing a writ petition filed by Tirupati Traders. In a brief but clear order, the court said that if the rectification application is allowed, “the demand raised by the order in original may not survive,” and...