Pre-Named Arbitrator Can Constitute Tribunal Only If Mutual Consent Continues: Delhi High Court

On 16 September, the Delhi High Court held that naming an arbitrator in an arbitration agreement may reflect the parties' mutual and continuing consent to his appointment. However, where one party alone appoints the named arbitrator after a dispute arises, the appointment must satisfy the safeguards under Section 12(5) read with the Seventh Schedule to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. A Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetrapal and Shail Jain dismissed Matsya Fincap Pvt. Ltd.'s...

Two-Year Delay In Pronouncing Arbitral Award Not Enough To Set It Aside: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that a two-year delay in pronouncing an arbitral award cannot, by itself, be a ground to set aside the award unless the delay is unexplained and is shown to have adversely affected the findings.A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Vinod Kumar made the observation while setting aside a single judge's order.The order had set aside a ₹65.12 crore arbitral award in favour of Unison Hotels Private Limited against IFFCO Tokio General Insurance Company...

Delhi High Court Restores Super Bazar Writ Petition Withdrawn On Former Liquidator's Instructions

On 15 September, the Delhi High Court recalled the 18 May 2018 order dismissing The Cooperative Store Limited (Super Bazar)'s writ petition as withdrawn, after finding that its former Official Liquidator, Dr. A.K. Mishra, lacked authority to instruct the withdrawal after his tenure ended. Justice Amit Mahajan held that an Official Liquidator cannot instruct withdrawal of a writ petition after his tenure has expired, particularly where the proceedings concern substantial public money. The Bench...

Unreasonable Delay In Taking SARFAESI Possession Defeats Act: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has pulled up an Advocate Commissioner and the police for failing to secure physical possession of a property despite a May 2025 order under the SARFAESI Act, holding that the “unreasonable and unexplained delay” had “completely defeated” the law's provisions. A Division Bench of Justice Manish Pitale and Justice Shreeram V. Shirsat directed the Advocate Commissioner, with police assistance, to take physical possession of the secured property on September 17, 2026 and ...

Forgery Allegation Alone No Ground To Reject Plea For Arbitrator Appointment: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that an allegation that an arbitration agreement was forged does not automatically require rejection of an application for appointment of an arbitrator where independent documents provide a prima facie basis for the agreement's existence. Justice Amit Borkar appointed Advocate Ranjeev Carvalho as sole arbitrator to decide the Patkar House redevelopment dispute between developer Kiran Narendra Patkar and Milan Narendra Patkar. All objections concerning the...

Bombay High Court Quashes Fresh Scrutiny Of Thomson Reuters Over Modified Return Filed After Merger

The Bombay High Court on 8 September quashed the fresh scrutiny and transfer pricing proceedings initiated against Thomson Reuters International Services Private Limited for Assessment Year 2022-23. A Division Bench of Justices B.P. Colabawalla and Farhan P. Dubash held that filing a modified return after a business reorganisation does not require a fresh assessment when proceedings for the same year are already pending. Under Section 170A(2)(b) of the Income Tax Act, the modified return must...

Calcutta High Court Quashes Income-Tax Reassessment Against McNally Bharat After IBC Resolution Plan

The Calcutta High Court has quashed income-tax reassessment proceedings against McNally Bharat Engineering Company Limited, holding that the authorities failed to satisfy the statutory conditions for reopening the assessment and acted contrary to the company's NCLT-approved resolution plan. Justice Smita Das De allowed the company's writ petition and set aside the notice and order issued by the tax authorities along with all consequential proceedings. The authorities were also...

GST Authority Cannot Pass Fresh Ex-Parte Order After Ignoring Replies: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has held that an adjudicating authority under the U.P. GST Act, 2017 must recall an order if it finds that it failed to consider the replies filed against the proceedings and hear the person afresh. It cannot consider those replies itself and pass a fresh ex-parte order on merits while exercising the rectification power under Section 161 of the Act. A Division Bench of Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Swarupama Chaturvedi set aside an order passed against Wonder...

Delhi High Court Cancels 'LNK' Trademark Over Similarity With Basant Lal's 'L&K' Sanitary Products Mark

The Delhi High Court on 3 September cancelled the trademark “LNK”, registered by Shakti Hydraulic Engineers for sanitary products, after finding it deceptively similar to “L&K”, an older registered mark belonging to Basant Lal. Justice Jyoti Singh allowed Lal's petition and directed the Registrar of Trademarks to remove Shakti Hydraulic Engineers' “LNK” registration from the register and rectify it within eight weeks. The Bench observed: “LNK is deceptively similar, visually and...

Gujarat High Court Upholds Tax Disallowance To J.K. Paper On Expenses For Supervising Farmer-Grown Trees

The Gujarat High Court has upheld an Income Tax Appellate Tribunal finding that expenditure incurred by J K Paper Limited on supervising trees grown by farmers could not be treated as agricultural expenditure. The tribunal had also excluded expenditure on producing coppice shoots through a process that did not involve primary operations on land.A bench of Justice Bhargav D. Karia and Justice Pranav Trivedi upheld the tribunal's decision to restrict the disallowance of agricultural loss to ₹9.43...

Delhi High Court Constitutes Tribunal For D P Jain-NHAI Dispute, Allows Change In SAROD Procedure

The Delhi High Court on 10 September constituted a three-member Arbitral Tribunal to adjudicate disputes between D P Jain Bangalore Chennai Expressways Private Limited and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) arising from the termination of a Concession Agreement for construction of a section of the Bangalore-Chennai Expressway. Justice Sachin Datta constituted the Tribunal after both parties jointly agreed to depart from the arbitration procedure prescribed under their agreement,...

Bombay High Court Rejects Baskin Robbins Licensee Graviss Foods' 'ICE CREAM ROCKS' Trademark Bid

The Bombay High Court on 16 September dismissed petitions filed by Graviss Foods, the Indian licensee of Baskin Robbins, challenging the Registrar of Trade Marks' rejection of its applications to register “ICE CREAM ROCKS”. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan observed that the phrase “ICE CREAM ROCKS” is too generic and descriptive to acquire distinctive character warranting trademark protection. The Bench observed: “Merely adding 'ROCKS' to 'ICE CREAM' does not turn the needle in favour of making...