After Supreme Court Coal Block Ruling, Rajasthan High Court Restores Awards In Favour Of Parsa Kente Collieries

The Rajasthan High Court has effectively restored arbitral awards in favour of Parsa Kente Collieries Ltd. in its dispute with Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd. The dispute concerned reimbursement of additional costs incurred after the Supreme Court's cancellation of coal block allocations and the subsequent continuation of the mining arrangement.In 2014, the Supreme Court had quashing coal block allocations across India, holding them arbitrary and illegal.A Division Bench of Acting...

Arbitration Clause In Tax Invoice Binding If Goods Accepted Without Protest: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court on 6 May held that an arbitration clause contained in the terms and conditions of a tax invoice constitutes a valid arbitration agreement when the receiving party accepts the goods supplied under the invoice without objection. Justice Piyush Agrawal appointed former judge Justice Vivek Kumar Birla as the sole arbitrator in a dispute between Ganesha Ecosphere Limited and Goodcore Spintex Pvt. Limited after holding that the parties were bound by the arbitration clause...

Delhi High Court Restrains Google From Using Hindware Trademark As Ad Keyword, Awards ₹30 Lakh

The Delhi High Court has recently permanently restrained Google LLC and Google India from using the registered trademark “HINDWARE” as advertising keywords, holding that Google could not avoid responsibility for enabling infringement through its keyword advertising tools. Justice Mini Pushkarna, in a judgment pronounced on May 22, also directed Google LLC and Google India to jointly pay ₹30 lakh as nominal damages to Hindware Limited. “Google cannot be permitted to shrug off responsibility by...

Delhi High Court Revives University Of North Texas' Patent Bid For Marijuana Detection Breathalyser

The Delhi High Court has recently set aside the Indian Patent Office's refusal of a patent application filed by the University of North Texas for a breathalyser technology intended to detect cannabinoids, including THC, from breath samples. Justice Jyoti Singh, who heard the appeal, held that the rejection order could not be sustained as it failed to properly assess the claimed invention's patentability. “The conclusion is thus cryptic and unreasoned on as to how the use of a heating element...

Delhi High Court Quashes ₹2.30 Crore Arbitral Award Against IRCTC In Meal Tariff Dispute

The Delhi High Court has set aside an arbitral award directing Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) to pay ₹2.30 crore to Foodworld in a dispute over reimbursement for second regular meals and welcome drinks under railway catering contracts. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar held that the controversy was substantially covered by the Supreme Court's ruling in Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corp. Ltd. v. Brandavan Food Products. “The interpretation adopted by the...

Patna HC Sets Aside ₹25 Lakh Arbitral Compensation Against Bihar State Food Corporation For No Proof of Loss

The Patna High Court has partly set aside an arbitral award against Bihar State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd, holding that compensation awarded without evidence of actual loss or injury could not be sustained. A Division Bench of Justice Mohit Kumar Shah and Justice Arun Kumar Jha held: “Thus, there is no proof much less any evidence whatsoever, on the records of the arbitral proceedings regarding the claimant-respondent having suffered any loss or injury, hence the award of...

Calcutta High Court Denies Relief To SARFAESI Auctions Buyer After DRT Bars SBI From Issuing Sale Certificate

The Calcutta High Court has held that State Bank of India cannot be faulted for withholding a sale certificate to a successful auction purchaser when it is restrained from doing so by a subsisting Debts Recovery Tribunal order. The Court refused to direct the bank to either complete the sale or refund ₹11.41 crore paid by the purchaser. Justice Ravi Krishan Kapur held: “This is not a case where the respondent bank has failed to issue the sale certificate on its own volition. There is no...

Revenue Must Rebut Taxpayer's Claimed Date Of GST Order Communication With Cogent Evidence: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has reiterated that where a taxpayer discloses the actual date of communication of an order under the Uttar Pradesh Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, the burden shifts to the Revenue to rebut that assertion with cogent material. It further held that the appellate authority is bound to give an independent finding on the date of communication of the order. Referring to the decisions of the division bench of the Allahabad High Court in Bambino Agro Industries Limited v....

Calcutta High Court Refuses Wife Relief Against Bank's SARFAESI Action Despite DV Act Protection Order

The Calcutta High Court has refused to interfere with HDFC Bank's SARFAESI action against a property despite a wife having secured a domestic violence protection Act order over the same premises. The Court noted that her challenge to the bank's possession notice is already pending before the Debts Recovery Tribunal. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen observed,“In view of availing of such alternative remedy, we are of the considered view that the learned...

Re-Filing Delays In Commercial Cases Must Be Treated As Seriously As Filing Delays: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has dismissed an appeal by the Delhi Development Authority against a Commercial Court judgment upholding an arbitral award, refusing to condone delays in filing and re-filing the matter. A Division Bench of Justice C. Hari Shankar and Justice Om Prakash Shukla underscored the need for strict adherence to timelines in commercial disputes arising from arbitral proceedings. “It is also settled that, in commercial matters, delay in re-filing has also to be treated with...

Jharkhand High Court Pulls Up JSBC for Seeking Adjournment In Arbitration Matter Over Transfer of MD

The Jharkhand High Court recently pulled up Jharkhand State Beverages Corporation for seeking a second adjournment in an arbitration matter on the ground that its managing director had been transferred. The court observed that the corporation was “bent upon delaying the matter.” It then appointed former Jharkhand High Court judge Justice N.N. Tiwari as sole arbitrator in its dispute with K.S. Multi Facility Services Private Limited. Chief Justice M.S. Sonak observed that the corporation's...

Calcutta HC Sets Aside Injunction, Says Market Value, Not Plaint Valuation, Determines Commercial Suit Threshold

The Calcutta High Court has held that where a dispute relates to immovable property used for trade, the market value of the property, not the valuation stated in the plaint (for determining specified value under the Commercial Courts Act), must govern, while setting aside interim injunction orders in a tenancy dispute. A Division Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Biswaroop Chowdhury observed: “Thus, whatever might have been attributed as valuation in the plaint by the...