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...

SARFAESI Involves Enforcement, Not Adjudication; Does Not Bar Arbitration: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court on Monday held that initiation of proceedings under the SARFAESI Act does not bar arbitration between a lender and a borrower. The court clarified that SARFAESI proceedings are meant only for enforcement of security and do not involve adjudication of disputes. Arbitration, it held, is an adjudicatory process and can proceed in parallel. Justice Sandeep V. Marne made the observations while hearing petitions filed by Tata Capital Housing Finance Ltd seeking appointment of...

Delhi High Court Grants Permanent Injunction In Favour Of Allied Blenders In 'Officer's Choice' Trademark Case

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday decreed a trademark infringement suit in favour of Allied Blenders and Distillers Ltd., granting a permanent injunction restraining Batra Breweries and Distilleries Pvt. Ltd. from using the marks “Officer's Choice”, “Officer's Choice Blue”, “Choice”, or any other identical or deceptively similar mark. Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the final decree disposing of the commercial suit filed by Allied Blenders alleging infringement of its well-known whisky...

Joint Commissioner's VAT Revision Cannot Be Revisited By Senior Officer: Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on 2 February held that once an order is revised by a Joint Commissioner under Section 86 of the West Bengal Value Added Tax Act, 2003, it cannot be subjected to a further suo motu revision under Section 85 by a Senior Joint Commissioner, as both officers act as delegates of the Commissioner and exercise the same revisional authority. A Bench of Justice Kausik Chanda, while dismissing a review petition filed by the West Bengal Tax Department, wrote: "Once an order has...

Supreme Court Refuses To Interfere With NCLAT Order Rejecting EPFO Claim Made After Liquidation Commencement

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed an appeal filed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, declining to interfere with a ruling of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on the treatment of claims in liquidation. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran said it found “no good ground and reason” to interfere with the NCLAT judgment dated September 24, 2024. The dispute arose from the liquidation of Khushi Foods Limited, which began on October 9, 2019. During the...