PMLA Review Hearing : Live Updates From Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is hearing the review petitions filed against the 2022 judgment in the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary case which upheld the various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) relating to arrest, search & seizure, reverse burden of proof, non-supply of ECIR copy etc.A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice NK Singh has decided to hear the preliminary objections raised by the Enforcement Directorate and the Union to the...

Mere Pendency Of Criminal Cases Alleging Simple Fraud No Bar To Arbitration : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has allowed the arbitration proceedings to continue in multi-crore Bihar Public Distribution System (“PDS”) Scam, stating that mere pendency of the criminal proceedings in offences involving simple fraud like cheating, criminal breach of trust doesn't bar a dispute from being referred to an arbitration. “The mere fact that criminal proceedings can or have been instituted in respect of the same incident(s) would not per se lead to the conclusion that the dispute which is...

IBC Moratorium Doesn't Bar Voluntary Surrender Of Corporate Debtor's Leased Property To Lessor: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 5) held that the moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), does not bar the voluntary handover of property leased by the corporate debtor to the lessors if retaining the asset is deemed unviable and the Committee of Creditors (“CoC”) endorses the decision. A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and S.C. Sharma set aside the NCLAT's ruling, which had barred the recovery of the leased property during the moratorium, observing that the...

Let GST Council Look Into Tracking Of GST Paid On Foreign OIDAR Services : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently disposed of a public interest litigation seeking directions for setting up a mechanism to track services provided by foreign entities in India under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Viswanathan passed the order after briefly hearing Advocate Charu Mathur, who appeared for the petitioner.During the hearing, Advocate Mathur submitted, “If Facebook provides some services or OpenAI provides some services, there is no...

S. 18(5) MSMED Act | Supreme Court To Examine Whether Time Limit For Deciding Reference By Facilitation Council Is Mandatory

The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the issue of whether the 90-day time limit prescribed under Section 18(5) of the MSMED Act for resolving disputes by the Micro and Small Enterprises Facilitation Council (“Council”) is mandatory or merely directory. The bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and SC Sharma issued a notice in a plea filed by one M/s Vast India Pvt. Ltd. challenging Bombay High Court's Division Bench's order which quashed the award passed by the Council in its favour stating...

Supreme Court Asks Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, Son To Approach High Court For Interim Reliefs In Liquor 'Scam' & Other Cases

The Supreme Court on Monday (August 4) asked former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and his son Chaitanya Baghel to approach the Chhattisgarh High Court for interim reliefs in the Coal 'scam' cases, Liquor 'scam' cases, Mahadev betting app cases, Rice milling cases and DMF 'scam' cases lodged by the Enforcement Directorate, CBI and State Police.Briefly put, Chaitanya Baghel (who was arrested 2 weeks ago) questioned the necessity of his arrest and sought interim bail in the ED case...

MSME Framework Not A Shield Against SARFAESI Proceedings Unless Proactively Invoked : Supreme Court Clarifies 'Pro Knits' Judgment

The Supreme Court recently held that secured creditors and banks are not obligated to identify "incipient stress" in the accounts of MSMEs prior to classifying them as Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), unless the MSME borrower has explicitly invoked the 2015 RBI Framework for revival and rehabilitation. The Court clarified that MSMEs cannot belatedly rely on the Framework during the course of SARFAESI proceedings initiated by lenders following a default. Instead, it is incumbent upon the MSME to...

Supreme Court To First Hear ED's Objections To Maintainability Of Review Petitions Against Judgment Upholding PMLA Provisions

The Supreme Court on Thursday (July 3) observed that it will first hear the issue of maintainability of the review petitions filed against the Vijay Madanlal Choudhary judgement, which upheld various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), before going into other issues raised by the petitioners.Clarifying the above, a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh posted the review petitions for hearing on August 6.During the brief hearing today,...

IBC | Naming Creditor In Balance Sheet Not Mandatory, Acknowledgment Extends Limitation: Supreme Court Allows IL&FS Plea

Reaffirming that an entry in a company's balance sheet amounts to a valid acknowledgment of debt under Section 18 of the Limitation Act, 1963 irrespective of the name of the creditor, the Supreme Court today (July 30) revived the dismissed insolvency plea filed by IL&FS against Adhunik Meghalaya Steels for a default of ₹55.45 crore, citing an acknowledgment of debt in the corporate debtor's balance sheet. The bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and KV Viswanathan heard the case where the...

Disputes Arising Out Of 'Work Contract' With MP Govt Instrumentality Shall Be Referred To MP Arbitration Tribunal : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today (July 30) reiterated that the disputes related to 'work contract' must be adjudicated exclusively by the Madhya Pradesh Arbitration Tribunal under the Madhya Pradesh Madhyastham Adhikaran Adhiniyam, 1983 (“1983 Act”). Holding thus, the bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan refused to interfere with the Madhya Pradesh High Court's ruling, which set aside the arbitration proceedings initiated by the Appellant, for settlement of the dispute arising out of...

Supreme Court Allows Open Court Hearing Of Review Petitions Against Rejection Of JSW's Resolution Plan For Bhushan Power & Steel

The Supreme Court accepted the request for an open court hearing of the review petition filed against the May 2 judgment which had rejected JSW's resolution plan for Bhushan Power and Steel (BPSL).A Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma issued notice to the parties on the review petition and posted the matter for hearing on July 31 at 3 PM."Application(s) for listing review petition(s) in open court and application for oral hearing are allowed. Issue notice,"...

Supreme Court Rejects Plea Of Ilaiyaraaja's Music Company To Transfer Sony's Suit From Bombay HC To Madras HC

The Supreme Court on Monday (July 28) dismissed a transfer petition filed by music maestro Ilaiyaraaja's 'Ilaiyaraaja Music N Management Pvt Ltd' (IMMA) seeking to transfer the copyright infringement suit filed against it by Sony Music Entertainment India Pvt Ltd from the Bombay High Court to the Madras High Court.The bench of CJI BR Gavai and Justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria heard the matter. The bench noted that Ilaiyaraaja's appeal in the Madras High Court was filed subsequent to...