Arbitrator's Mandate Not Automatically Terminated By Expiry Of Indicative Timeline: Delhi High Court

On 30 September, the Delhi High Court held that an arbitrator's mandate does not end merely because an indicative time period fixed by the Court for completing proceedings has expired, unless the direction imposed a mandatory deadline. A Division Bench comprising Justices Avneesh Jhingan and Shail Jain dismissed M.K. Construction's appeal against an arbitral award in its residential construction dispute with Maj. Gen. Hoshiar Singh (Retd). It observed: “The direction of this Court did not...

No Limitation To Claim Delay Interest Where Allottee Continues With Project: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on 23 September held that an allottee who continues with a real estate project can claim interest for every month of delay in possession, as the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 prescribes no limitation for raising such a claim. A Bench of Justice Prashant Kumar dismissed Antriksh Developers and Promoters Pvt. Ltd.'s appeal against the U.P. Real Estate Appellate Tribunal's direction to pay delay interest, holding that the expression “demand” in the...

Mere Excise Registration Lapse Not Wilful Suppression If Dept. Knew About Unit: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on 25 September held that the extended five-year limitation period under the proviso to Section 11-A(1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944 cannot be invoked merely because a manufacturer failed to register or produce declarations, where the department already knew about his manufacturing unit and the goods manufactured there. Justice Irshad Ali quashed the demand of Rs.6,27,086/- in Additional Excise Duty and the equivalent penalty imposed on Siraj Ahmad, proprietor of...

UPVAT| Joint Commissioner Can't Revise Order Without Commissioner's Authorisation: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on 11 September held that the Joint Commissioner (Executive) cannot exercise revisional powers under Section 56(1) of the U.P. VAT Act, 2008 without an order of authorisation by the Commissioner, Commercial Tax. Proceedings initiated by an unauthorised officer are without jurisdiction and void ab initio. Justice Piyush Agrawal allowed Sai Baba Ent Bhatta's revision against the order of the Commercial Tax Tribunal, Kanpur, holding that there was nothing on record to show...

Supreme Court Orders Status Quo Over ₹54 Crore Deposit In Moser Baer Solar Asset Auction

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed parties to maintain status quo in a dispute concerning the ₹54 crore deposit made by JFC Finance (India) Ltd. in the fresh auction of assets of corporate debtor Moser Baer Solar Ltd.The dispute concerns whether the Liquidator can retain JFC's deposit until the successful bidder pays the entire sale consideration of ₹168 crore.The NCLAT rejected the Liquidator's plea, holding that the condition in paragraph 56(iv) had been triggered once another bidder...

BSE Moves Supreme Court To Transfer Bombay HC Challenge To Ruling Declaring Stock Exchanges RTI Public Authorities

The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice on a plea filed by BSE Ltd. seeking transfer of its 2007 writ petition from the Bombay High Court to the Supreme Court. The writ petition challenges the Central Information Commission's June 7, 2007, order declaring stock exchanges, including BSE, as “Public Authorities” under Section 2(h) of the Right to Information Act, 2005.The transfer plea arose after the Delhi High Court, on July 1, 2026, held the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. (NSE) to...

'Why Are You Fighting Unnecessarily?': Supreme Court Declines Ilaiyaraaja's Challenge In 'En Iniya Pon Nilave' Copyright Dispute

The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with music composer Ilaiyaraaja's challenge against the Delhi High Court's dismissal of his review petition in the copyright dispute concerning the song “En Iniya Pon Nilave” from the Tamil film Moodu Pani. The Delhi High Court's Single Judge held that while Ilaiyaraaja retained certain rights in the musical work, he had no copyright in the sound recording or lyrics and therefore could not assign those rights to Vels. The Division Bench...

Word 'Arbitration' In Brief Clause Can Be Sufficient To Show Intention To Arbitrate: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a brief arbitration clause can constitute a valid and binding arbitration agreement even when it does not use words such as “shall” or “will” to expressly require disputes to be referred to arbitration.Justice Amit Borkar observed, “The Court is not adding the word 'shall' to the contract as a new term. The Court is trying to understand the words already written in the Purchase Order in their ordinary commercial setting. The word 'Arbitration', along with the...

Gulf Trade Disruptions: Rajasthan HC Issues Notice On MSME's Challenge To RELIEF Scheme Cut-Off Date

The Rajasthan High Court has recently issued notices to the government on a petition challenging the cut-off under Component III of the Resilience and Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation (RELIEF) Scheme, which restricts reimbursement support to shipments having Onboard Bills of Lading issued between February 14, 2026 and March 15, 2026.A Division Bench of Justices Inderjeet Singh and Sandeep Taneja was hearing a petition filed by Agrim Overseas, an MSME exporter of perishable...

Karnataka High Court Dismisses JSW Steel's Plea Over PMLA Attachment Linked To Alleged Illegal Iron Ore Transactions

The Karnataka High Court has dismissed JSW Steel's challenge to a PMLA Appellate Tribunal order concerning the attachment of its bank accounts totalling ₹24.37 crore over alleged proceeds from illegally mined iron ore supplied to the company.The Court held that JSW had been permitted to raise all factual and legal submissions before the Tribunal and therefore its grievance that the matter should have been remanded was untenable.A division bench of Justices D.K. Singh and T.M. Nadaf said...

Madras High Court Says Precision Instruments Used In Manufacturing Eligible For 3% Sales Tax Rate

The Madras High Court has held that precision instruments such as Vernier Calipers, Depth Gauges and Cylinder Gauges used by manufacturers in Tamil Nadu qualify for a 3% concessional tax rate when sold against Form XVII declarations, even though the instruments are not consumed in the manufacturing processA Division Bench of Justice Anita Sumanth and Justice E. Manoharan observed that the benefit under Section 3(3) of the Tamil Nadu General Sales Tax Act, 1959 extends to “any goods” used in...

Gujarat HC Allows Plea To Condone Delay In Filing Income Tax Return Despite Pending Appeal Against Assesment

The Gujarat High Court has ruled that the rejection of a taxpayer's application seeking condonation of delay in filing an income tax return can be examined even after an assessment order has been passed and an appeal against it is pending before the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeals).“We do not subscribe to the objection raised by the Revenue since it is an admitted position that the Commissioner of Income-tax (Appeals) does not have the power in condoning the delay and the remedy invoked by...