Delhi High Court Cuts TDS To 0.5% for UK Company Travelport, Sets Aside 1.6% Certificate

The Delhi High Court has granted partial relief to UK-based travel technology company Travelport International Operations Limited by setting aside a tax withholding certificate that required deduction of tax at 1.6%. A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar directed the tax authorities to issue a fresh certificate providing deduction of tax at a reduced rate of 0.5%.Travelport, a United Kingdom tax resident, provides electronic global distribution services to the travel industry...

Delhi High Court Quashes Tax Demand On NGO, Raps Revenue for 'Taking Advantage' Of Taxpayer's Ignorance

The Delhi High Court has granted tax exemption to the International Buddhist Confederation, a Non-Governmental Organisation holding that tax authorities can't deny statutory benefits merely because of an inadvertent disclosure error made in the income tax return. A division bench of Justices Dinesh Mehta and Vinod Kumar also criticised the Revenue for taking advantage of the assessee's ignorance of his rights while passing the scrutiny assessment.Briefly put, the NGO filed its income tax return...

IBC Is Now Being Misused Like Anything": CJI Surya Kant Flags Pre-Planned Auctions and Asset Undervaluation

The Supreme Court recently flagged the issue of IBC provisions being misused by Insolvent Companies to stage pre-planned auctions and sell assets at undervalued rates. The Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant remarked on the gravity of instances where the IBC procedure is being misused, the CJI said :"Unfortunately, the IBC platform is now being misused like anything, you get the company's all assets undervalued, then you indulge in a kind of an auction, which is also a completely...

Bombay High Court Refuses To Quash FIR, ED Probe Against Ex-Religare Chairperson Rashmi Saluja

The Bombay High Court has dismissed writ petitions filed by Dr Rashmi Saluja, former Executive Chairperson and key managerial person of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), challenging an FIR registered against her in September 2024 and the proceedings initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam A Ankhad refused to interfere with and FIR registered at Matunga Police Station,...

Arbitral Tribunals Cannot Grant Equity-Based Relief Unless Authorised By Contract: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that arbitral tribunals must decide disputes strictly in accordance with the contract and applicable law and cannot grant relief based on "notions of equity or fairness" unless the parties have expressly authorised such an approach. Setting aside an arbitral award directing a refund of brokerage, the court held that arbitrators are not courts of law empowered to dispense equitable relief and that once transactions are held to be authorised, their contractual...

Delhi High Court Awards ₹20 Lakh Damages To Hero Electric Vehicles Against Rogue Website Misusing Its Mark

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday awarded Rs 20 lakh in damages and Rs 3 lakh in litigation costs to Hero Electric Vehicles Private Limited while decreeing a trademark infringement suit over a dealership scam run through a rogue website. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela also granted a permanent injunction restraining the defendants from unauthorised use of Hero Electric's registered trademarks and copyrighted works. The court found that the defendants had posed as the company and cheated innocent...

Kerala High Court Quashes Panchayat Prosecution Over Tax Dues, Reiterates Recovery Must Fail First

The Kerala High Court has quashed criminal proceedings initiated by a grama panchayat against the General Manager of GTL Infrastructure Ltd. over alleged non-payment of panchayat tax in respect of mobile towers, holding that prosecution under the Kerala Panchayat Raj Act can be launched only after statutory recovery proceedings are first exhausted. A Single Bench of Justice C. S. Dias allowed a criminal miscellaneous case filed by the General Manager, who was the first accused in a complaint...

Parties Cannot Challenge Arbitration Clause After Accepting Court-Appointed Arbitrator Under Pre-2015 Regime: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (February 4) reaffirmed that parties who accept a court order appointing an arbitrator under the pre-2015 arbitration regime cannot later challenge the existence or validity of the arbitration clause while assailing the arbitral award. The ruling was delivered by a bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan. Under the law as it stood before the 2015 amendments, the Chief Justice or the designated judge exercising powers under Section 11 was...

Madras High Court Sets Aside ₹7.77-Crore Award Against New India Assurance

The Madras High Court has recently set aside a Rs 7.77-crore arbitral award passed against New India Assurance Company Limited, holding that the arbitral tribunal failed to properly examine whether the claimant had the right to maintain the insurance claim after transferring its entire business. Allowing the insurer's challenge, Justice N. Anand Venkatesh held that the tribunal ignored a threshold issue going to the root of the dispute and returned findings that were “bereft of any materials”...

Supreme Court Dismisses Law Firm's ₹1.08-Crore Claim Against Insolvency-Bound Realty Company

The Supreme Court of India has recently dismissed an appeal by a law firm seeking to recover more than Rs 1 crore in unpaid legal fees from a realty company undergoing insolvency, declining to interfere with findings that the claim was not backed by the record. The appeal was filed by Juristica Legal Services LLP against Three C Universal Developers Private Limited, which is undergoing a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process. A Bench of Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok...

Orissa High Court Grants Interim Relief to Taxpayer Against Non-Faceless IT Reassessment

The Orissa High Court on 2 February restrained the Income Tax Department from proceeding further on a reassessment notice issued to a Bhubaneswar-based taxpayer, after finding that the notice was not issued in accordance with the mandatory faceless procedure prescribed under the Income Tax Act, 1961. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice M.S. Raman was hearing a writ petition filed by Bibekananda Parida, challenging an order passed under Section 148A of the Income Tax...

Bombay High Court Sets Aside ₹1.17-Crore Arbitral Award Enforcing Off-Book Cash Claims

The Bombay High Court has set aside an arbitral award directing a real estate partnership to pay over Rs 1.17 crore to a former partner, holding that the award sought to enforce rights allegedly arising from illegal and undocumented cash transactions.Allowing the challenge, Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan held that the arbitral tribunal had enforced rights flowing from a partnership arrangement that was shown to operate entirely outside lawful accounting. The court warned that if such...