Telangana High Court Quashes Naandi Foundation Reassessment, Says 'Further In-Depth Scrutiny' Not Enough

The Telangana High Court on 7 September allowed a batch of petitions filed by Naandi Foundation challenging reassessment proceedings under the Income Tax Act, 1961 for the assessment year 2019-20 and set aside the order passed under Section 148A(3) and the consequential notice issued under Section 148. A Division Bench of Justices P. Sam Koshy and Narsing Rao Nandikonda held that the mere need for “further in-depth scrutiny” of transactions cannot constitute information suggesting escapement of...

Delhi High Court Issues Notice On BharatPe Plea Over Unity Small Finance Bank Warrants Transfer

The Delhi High Court has issued notice on BharatPe's (Resilient Innovations) plea against Centrum Financial Services Limited and JBCG Advisory Services Private Limited over the alleged transfer and encumbrance of warrants issued by Unity Small Finance Bank without its consent.The plea seeks interim relief restraining the two companies from transferring or creating any encumbrance over the warrants without BharatPe's prior written consent. It alleges that such action would violate the...

Madras High Court Directs Refund Of ₹6.41 Lakh To The Madras Club, Says Tax Burden Not Passed On Members

The Madras High Court on 1 September directed the authorities to refund Rs.6.41 lakh to The Madras Club, after finding that the club had not passed on the tax burden to its members to that extent. A Division Bench of Justices Anita Sumanth and C. Kumarappan partly allowed the club's appeal against a CESTAT order rejecting its refund claim. The judges held: “...in respect of the portion of the amount in a sum of Rs.9,09,717/-, the appellant has already passed on the burden to its members....

Centre Challenges Punjab & Haryana HC Verdict Striking Down S.147A Income Tax

The Union Government has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment declaring Section 147A of the Income Tax Act, 1961, unconstitutional.The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant by Additional Solicitor General N. Venkataraman, appearing for the Union. The ASG sought urgent listing of the Special Leave Petition, stating that the High Court ruling had created a legal vacuum concerning income tax reassessment proceedings. The Chief...

Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court Quashes GST Penalty Proceedings Over One-Day Delay In Notice

The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has held that the seven-day timeline under Section 129(3) of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017 for issuing a notice after detention and seizure of goods is mandatory. The court set aside the orders in the case after finding that the notice was issued a day beyond the prescribed period.“There was a delay of one day in issuing the notice, which vitiates the entire proceedings,” a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Kumar and...

Invalid Swiss Tax Reference Can't Extend Limitation For Tax Assessment: Delhi High Court Dismisses Income Tax Dept's Appeal

The Delhi High Court has dismissed the Income Tax Department's appeal against an ITAT order quashing a search assessment for AY 2006-07 on the ground of limitation, in light of its earlier judgment in Principal Commissioner of Income Tax, Central-1, Delhi v. Sanjay Jain which held time limit for completing search assessments cannot be extended merely by making a reference to a foreign tax authority if the information sought is not permissible under the applicable tax treaty.The case before the...

Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Claiming ARCs Are Not Banking Companies And Cannot Use SARFAESI, RDB Acts

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed a petition by a borrower challenging an Asset Reconstruction Company's (ARC) use of the SARFAESI Act to recover dues. The borrower argued that ARCs are not “banking companies” and therefore cannot invoke the recovery law.The court, however, did not examine that broader question.Instead, the court rejected the petitioner's separate contention that SARFAESI could not be invoked after the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT), Ernakulam, had passed a decree. A...

Delhi High Court Orders Blocking Of Websites Illegally Streaming F1 Racing, ATP Tennis, Saudi Pro League

The Delhi High Court has recently ordered the blocking of four rogue websites accused of illegally streaming Formula 1, ATP Tour and Saudi Pro League events in India, for which FanCode has exclusive broadcasting rights.Justice Jyoti Singh passed the order on September 10, granting Sporta Technologies, which owns and operates FanCode, an ex parte ad interim injunction. The court found that Sporta had made out a prima facie case, that the balance of convenience lay in its favour and that it was...

Delhi High Court Upholds Corrigendum Correcting GST Portal Order That Showed Proceedings Dropped

The Delhi High Court has upheld a corrigendum issued by a GST officer to correct an inadvertent error on the GST portal, where the portal-generated order showed that proceedings against a taxpayer had been dropped even though the accompanying adjudication order had confirmed a tax, interest and penalty demand.The Division Bench of Justices Anil Kshetarpal and Shail Jain held that the corrigendum merely corrected an inconsistent recital in the original order and did not create a fresh demand.The...

Gujarat High Court Admits Ford India Plea Against GST Demands Based On E-Way Bill Discrepancies

The Gujarat High Court on 3 September admitted connected writ petitions filed by Ford India Private Limited challenging show-cause notices and Orders-in-Original issued under Section 74 of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, concerning alleged discrepancies between taxable values and e-way bill data. A Division Bench of Justices A.S. Supehia and Vaibhavi D. Nanavati found that the adjudicating authority had expressed its inability to reconcile the voluminous data despite the material...

State Cannot Bypass Statutory Limitation By Challenging MSME Award Through Writ: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on 3 September held that the State cannot circumvent the statutory limitation for challenging an arbitral award passed by the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council by invoking the High Court's writ jurisdiction for a merits review. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha allowed the writ appeal filed by the Commissioner, Bhoomi Monitoring Cell, only to the extent of holding that the State's writ petition challenging a Rs....

Employee's Death During Appeal Does Not Nullify Disciplinary Punishment: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab & Haryana High Court on 2 September held that an employee's death during the pendency of a departmental appeal does not automatically nullify a disciplinary punishment imposed during his lifetime. Justice Sandeep Moudgil dismissed a writ petition filed by Sukhjinder Singh, son of former Punjab State Cooperative Supply & Marketing Federation Ltd. (Markfed) Branch Officer M.S. Cheema, challenging the reduction of his father's pay by two stages for calculating retiral dues over...