MasterChow Agrees To Stop Using Dhurandhar Character In Its Ad; Bombay HC Records Settlement In Jio's Suit

A dispute over the use of the Dhurandhar film character 'Jameel Jamali' in an advertisement has been settled before the Bombay High Court, with Reliance Industries Limited's Jio Studios resolving its case against MasterChow Foods Private Limited. Jio Studios had objected to an advertisement created by MasterChow that featured the character 'Jameel Jamali' from Dhurandhar, along with behind-the-scenes footage from the film. The company said this amounted to copyright infringement in the...

Karnataka High Court Dismisses AVTEC Appeal, Holds Unilateral Appointment Of Sole Arbitrator Invalid

The Karnataka High Court on 29 April dismissed an appeal filed by AVTEC Limited and upheld the Commercial Court's order setting aside an arbitral award. A Division Bench of Justices Anu Sivaraman and T.M. Nadaf held that parties cannot permit unilateral appointment of a sole arbitrator under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, and also ruled that a party which participates in arbitration without objection cannot later dispute jurisdiction. It observed: “The appellant having...

Bombay High Court Restrains United Biotech From Using 'OTIDE' Mark In Dispute With Sun Pharma

The Bombay High Court on 4 May granted an interim injunction in favour of Sun Pharma Laboratories Limited and restrained United Biotech Private Limited from using the mark OTIDE. Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh, held that phonetic similarity between pharmaceutical marks OCTRIDE and OTIDE is sufficient to establish a prima facie case of passing off. However, she declined relief on the infringement claim. She observed: “The incorrect pronunciation of trade marks used for marketing medicines is not...

BREAKING | Bombay High Court Quashes FIR Against HDFC Bank CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan By Lilavati Trust

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed the FIR registered against Sashidhar Jagdishan, Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Bank, in connection with allegations of bribery made by the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Medical Trust, which manages the Lilavati HospitalA division bench of Justices M. S. Karnik and N. R. Borkar allowed Jagdishan's plea seeking quashing of the FIR lodged by the Bandra police on along with the magistrate's order that had directed registration of the case.The FIR had been...

Bombay High Court Orders Constitution Of Special Bench Of NCLT To Dispose Of JM Financial's ₹167 Cr Insolvency Plea

On 30 April, the Bombay High Court directed the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai to constitute a Special Bench and dispose of JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd.'s Section 7 petition against Shubh Hospitality Private Ltd. by 30 June 2026, and expressed strong disapproval of how the Tribunal handled the matter. A Division Bench of Justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram V. Shirsat emphasised that delays at the NCLT defeat the time-bound framework of the Insolvency and...

Madras HC Refuses To Strike Off Suit In Dispute Over 49th South India Motor Rally Despite Arbitration Clause

The Madras High Court has refused to strike off a civil suit over disputes relating to a motorsports event, including the 49th South India Rally, holding that the existence of an arbitration clause does not by itself bar the jurisdiction of a civil court. “Further, the existence of an arbitration clause does not ipso facto bar the jurisdiction of the Civil Court unless the procedure contemplated under the Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 is duly invoked before the...

Madras High Court Paves Way for Release of Gautham Vasudev Menon's Dhruva Natchathiram Subject To Conditions

The Madras High Court recently permitted the release of Dhruva Natchathiram, a Gautham Vasudev Menon directorial, subject to the condition that pre-release payments be made to creditors and that all revenues from the film be routed through a court-monitored bank account. The film, which stars Chiyaan Vikram in the lead role, has been delayed by nearly eight years since it was first slated for release. The injunction had originally been obtained in 2023 by two parties to the production...

Madhya Pradesh HC Upholds Continuation Of Court-Granted Interim Relief After Arbitral Tribunal Formation

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has upheld an interim order restraining parties from alienating disputed property in an arbitration matter and held that the interim injunction shall continue during the pendency of arbitration proceedings. “we are of the view that the learned trial Court was right in exercising its jurisdiction under Section 9 of the Act, 1996 considering the fact that the sole arbitrator was appointed and arbitral tribunal was constituted after the learned trial Court had applied...

Withdrawn Claim Cannot Be Revived In Arbitration: Delhi HC Upholds Setting Aside Of Award Against Omaxe

The Delhi High Court has upheld an order setting aside an arbitral award that granted buyers of a commercial unit about ₹1.05 lakh per month as assured returns from Omaxe Limited, after finding that the arbitrator had granted relief on a claim that was no longer part of the arbitration. Explaining why, a Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar held that the arbitrator “erred in awarding the AMR as compensation as it was beyond his jurisdiction,” noting that once the claim was...

No Fresh GST Demand For Same Amount Without Credit For Reversed ITC: Orissa HC Sets Aside Tax Demand

The Orissa High Court has set aside GST proceedings against an individual taxpayer, holding that once input tax credit (ITC) is reversed, the tax department cannot demand the same amount again without giving due credit for such reversal. “Once it is conceded by the Revenue that the amount of input tax credit for a sum of Rs.4,39,970/- has been reversed, raising demand to the same without giving due credit to such reversal is unethical and without authority of law. In such an event, since net...

West Asia Hostilities No Ground: Delhi HC Dismisses SpiceJet Review Plea Against ₹144.51 Crore Deposit Order

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed review petitions filed by SpiceJet Ltd and its promoter Ajay Singh, refusing to modify its March 18, 2026 order and grant further time, thereby requiring compliance with directions to deposit ₹144.51 crore in an arbitration dispute with Kal Airways Pvt. Ltd. Justice Subramonium Prasad held that subsequent developments such as the outbreak of hostilities in West Asia cannot be used to avoid compliance with binding judicial directions or as a ground for...

Re-Export Does Not Absolve Importers From Penalty For Misdeclaration Under Customs Act: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has held that an importer cannot escape penalties for misdeclaration and use of false documents merely by opting to re-export the goods after detection. "The order of re-export on payment of redemption fine will not absolve the penal consequence envisaged under the Customs Act, 1962. If this proposition of the CESTAT is to be approved, then all illegal importers, if caught, will offer to pay a paltry sum as fine in lieu of redemption of the goods and re-export the...