Supreme Court & High Courts
Delhi High Court Protects Singer Jubin Nautiyal's Personality Rights From Commercial Exploitation
The Delhi High Court has granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction in favour of singer Jubin Nautiyal, restraining unauthorised commercial exploitation of his personality and publicity rights, including through artificial intelligence tools, deepfakes and voice cloning technologies. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, in an order dated February 19, 2026, held: “In the considered opinion of this Court, the plaintiff has a prima facie strong case and having regard to his well-known, popular and...
Gujarat High Court Upholds Classification Of 'Mint Orange 2022' As Industrial Input Under VAT Act
The Gujarat High Court has held that 'Mint Orange 2022' is classifiable as an industrial input under the Gujarat Value Added Tax Act, 2003, clarifying that household use does not prevent a product from being treated as an industrial input when its composition and primary use are industrial in nature.A Division Bench of Justice A.S. Supehia and Justice Pranav Trivedi dismissed the Tax Appeal filed by the Commercial Tax Department, holding that the product qualifies as an aromatic chemical and...
'Ruse To Exploit Mill Land': Bombay High Court Rejects Plea To Revive Swadeshi Mills
The Bombay High Court on Monday dismissed an application filed by Grand View Estates Pvt Ltd seeking a stay of winding up proceedings and revival of Swadeshi Mills Company Ltd, holding that the proposal was not a genuine attempt to revive the textile company but an effort to exploit its valuable mill land for real estate development. A single-judge bench of Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh observed that the revival plan was “nothing but a ruse to obtain the valuable land for exploitation in real...
Delhi High Court Questions 'Zora' Trademark Registration, Says Visually Similar To 'Zara'
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday questioned the Registrar of Trade Marks action allowing the registration of the mark “Zora,” observing that it is “visually, receptively similar beyond any doubt” to the global fashion brand “Zara”.The matter arises from a challenge filed by Industria De Diseño Textil, S.A., owner of the brand “Zara,” against an order of the Registrar of Trade Marks permitting registration of the mark “Zora” in Class 24, which covers textile goods and fabrics.Justice Jyoti...
'Reimbursements' Fixed As Percentage Of Sales Are Contractual, Liable For TDS: Calcutta High Court
The Calcutta High Court has upheld the disallowance of expenses claimed by Deys Medical Private Limited (appellant) on account of alleged reimbursements paid to its group companies, holding that payments calculated as a percentage of sales constituted contractual consideration liable for tax deduction at source (TDS).The appeal arose from an order of the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Kolkata, which had partially affirmed the Assessing Officer's disallowance of over Rs. 3.35 crore under the...
"I Am Not A God": Godman Aniruddha Bapu Moves Delhi High Court To Restrain Devotees From Portraying Him With Gods
In what it described as a “very surprising suit,” the Delhi High Court on Tuesday heard a personality rights case filed by Mumbai-based godman Dr. Aniruddha Dhairyadhar Joshi, popularly known as Aniruddha Bapu, who is seeking to restrain his own followers from portraying him as a deity. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela remarked during the hearing, “Faith moves mountains… This is something very surprising. You have come up with a very surprising suit,” as the Court considered a plea that does not...
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...