Venue Of Arbitration Is Seat In Absence Of Contrary Indication: J&K&L High Court

The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladkah High Court has recently reiterated that where an arbitration clause designates a particular place as the “venue” of arbitration and there is no contrary indication, such place must be treated as the “seat” of arbitration, thereby conferring exclusive jurisdiction on courts at that location."It is, thus settled that whenever there is mention of place of arbitration in an arbitration clause as being the venue of arbitration proceedings, it would really...

Seismic Survey Not FTS Or Royalty: Delhi High Court Quashes 7% Withholding Tax Certificate On Norwegian Firm

The Delhi High Court has quashed a 7% withholding tax certificate issued to Norwegian company PGS Geophysical under Section 197 of the Income Tax Act, holding that seismic survey and data acquisition services rendered for offshore oil exploration cannot be characterised as “fees for technical services” (FTS) or royalty.A Division Bench of Justices V. Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar allowed the writ petition filed by the Norwegian company, which had been engaged by ONGC for conducting seismic data...

Madras High Court Attaches ₹154.63 Crore SEPC Receivables, Appoints PwC To Audit Financial Position

The Madras High Court recently ordered interim attachment of Rs. 154.63 crore from the trade receivables of SEPC Limited, formerly known as Shriram EPC Limited, and appointed an independent auditor to examine its financial position, observing that it “cannot sit like a lame duck” while awaiting submissions from banks claiming charge over the company's assets. Justice N. Anand Venkatesh passed the order in execution petitions filed by GPE (India) Ltd. seeking enforcement of a foreign arbitral...

Bombay High Court Permanently Injuncts 'SUPER ASIAN PLUS' Trademark In Asian Paints Suit

The Bombay High Court has granted a permanent injunction in favour of Asian Paints, holding that the use of the mark “SUPER ASIAN PLUS” was “entirely dishonest and actuated by bad faith” and amounted to trademark infringement and passing off. Justice Arif S. Doctor, on 20 February 2026 also directed three of the defendants to each pay Rs 3 lakh in compensatory costs.Asian Paints submitted that it had been using its house mark “ASIAN PAINTS” continuously since 1952 and the mark “ASIAN” since...

Income Tax | Delay in Filing Form 67 Not Ground to Deny Foreign Tax Credit: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has held that a mere delay in filing Form 67, the prescribed declaration required to claim credit in India for taxes already paid abroad as required under Rule 128 of the Income Tax Rules, 1962 cannot be used to deny an assessee the substantive benefit of Foreign Tax Credit (FTC).A Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar made the observation while allowing a petition filed by Real Time Data Services Private Limited against the Principal Commissioner of...

Bombay High Court Sets Aside Commercial Suit Review Heard By Another Judge Despite Availability Of Order-Passing Judge

Holding that an alternate judge had effectively “sat in appeal” over a coordinate bench, the Bombay High Court has ruled that a review application cannot be entertained by another judge when the original judge remains available under Order XLVII Rule 5 of the Code of Civil Procedure. A Division Bench of Justices R.I. Chagla and Advait M. Sethna set aside an ex parte review order passed on April 25, 2025 by an alternate judge of the City Civil Court at Dindoshi, observing that the course adopted...

Supreme Court Dismisses Customs Review Plea Against IndiGo, SpiceJet In IGST Exemption Case On Reimported Aircraft Parts

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed review petitions filed by the Customs Department against its earlier judgment affirming relief granted to InterGlobe Aviation Limited, which operates IndiGo, in a dispute concerning the levy of Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on re-import of aircraft and parts sent abroad for repairs.A bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice K.V. Viswanathan condoned the delay but declined to interfere with its earlier decision. The court held: ...

S.48 Customs Act | Exporter Cannot Stop Customs Action On Return Shipment By Disowning It: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has recently held that an exporter cannot block the entry or processing of a return shipment merely by disowning the consignment, and that once the importer/exporter refuses to clear the goods, the statutory consequences under Section 48 of the Customs Act, 1962 must follow.For context, Section 48 provides the procedure to be followed where the goods are not cleared, warehoused, or transshipped within thirty days from the date of unloading. In the case at hand, the...

Bogus Purchases: Bombay High Court To Examine If ITAT Can Limit Disallowance To Profit Margin

The Bombay High Court has recently admitted an Income Tax Appeal filed by the Department and will examine the correct approach to disallowance in cases involving bogus purchases. A Division Bench of Justice M S Karnik and Justice S.M. Modak, by an order dated February 5, 2026, admitted the Revenue's appeal against Chandrakant L. Nishar The Court recorded the submission of the Revenue's counsel that although the tax effect appeared to be less than Rs.2 crore, the appeal fell within an...

Delhi High Court Grants Ex-Parte Injunction Protecting 'TOI' Mark Against Impersonating Social Media Accounts

The Delhi High Court has recently granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction to Bennett Coleman and Company Limited restraining the use of the marks TIMES OF INDIA, TOI MOVIES, TOI_MOVIES and TOIMOVIES_, or any identical or deceptively similar mark, by unauthorised social media account operators. The order was passed on February 20, 2026 by Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. The court noted that “The Times of India” was recognised as a well-known trademark by the Trade Marks Registry in 2024. It held...

Delhi High Court Treats 5.25% Withholding Certificate Issued To EY As Nil

The Delhi High Court has recently treated a 5.25% withholding tax certificate issued to Ernst & Young LLP (EY) under Section 195 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, as a NIL-rate certificate, holding that the tax officer acted contrary to an earlier binding order of the Court for the same assessment year.A Division Bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar disposed of the writ petition filed by EY challenging the order of the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax which had directed withholding...

Gujarat High Court Dismissed Appeal In GULAB vs ROSE Trademark Dispute, Warns Trial Court Against Superfluous Judgments

The Gujarat High Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by Mangrol Oil Mill in its trademark dispute over “GULAB” groundnut oil. The Court refused to interfere with a Commercial Court order that denied interim injunction against Vikas Oil Industries, which markets edible oil under the mark “ROSE”. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Sanjeev J. Thaker upheld the November 30, 2024 order of the Commercial Court at Morbi. The trial court had rejected the plaintiffs'...