Director Sujoy Ghosh Approaches Supreme Court To Quash Copyright Infringement Case Over "Kahaani 2" Film Script

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (July 2) issued notice on a petition filed by national award-winning scriptwriter and director Sujoy Ghosh seeking to quash a criminal case filed under Section 63 of the Copyright Act, 1957, on the allegation that his movie "Kahaani 2: Durga Rani Singh" was based on a stolen script.A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice R Mahadevan, while issuing notice to the State of Jharkhand and the complainant, allowed exemption to Ghosh from personal appearance...

'Pankaj Bansal' Judgment On Supply Of Grounds Of Arrest Applies Only Prospectively, Argues Karnataka Govt In Supreme Court

In a case filed by the State of Karnataka, the Supreme Court is likely to consider the issue as to whether its judgment in Pankaj Bansal v. Union of India, which held that the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) must furnish grounds of arrest to the accused in writing, is retrospective in application.A bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh heard the matter yesterday and adjourned it to June 26.The case assails decision dated 17.04.2025 rendered by the Karnataka High Court holding...

PPL Copyright Issue | Third Parties Not Exempt From Paying License Fee To PPL Because Of Stay In Azure's Favour : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently clarified that its interim stay order dated April 21, 2025, in the dispute between Phonographic Performance Ltd. (PPL) and Azure Hospitality Pvt. Ltd. will apply only between the parties to the suit pending before the Delhi High Court and not to third parties.On April 21, 2025 the Supreme Court had stayed the direction of the Delhi High Court ordering Azure to pay PPL licence fees for playing its copyrighted sound recordings calculated as per the tariff of Recorded...

Supreme Court Rejects Challenging Validity Of Rule 29(4) Copyright Rules Requiring Prior Notice For Statutory Broadcast Licence

The Supreme Court rejected a plea challenging Rule 29(4) of the Copyright Rules, 2013, which sets out the specific particulars that broadcasters must include in the prior notice required for invoking the statutory licence under Section 31D of the Copyright Act, 1957.Section 31D provides for a statutory licence to broadcasters to communicate literary and musical works and sound recordings without requiring prior individual licences from copyright owners, subject to conditions including prior...

Byju's Insolvency : Supreme Court Issues Notice On Riju Ravindran's Plea Against NCLAT Mandating CoC Nod For CIRP Withdrawal

The Supreme Court recently issued notice on an appeal challenging the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) judgment holding that the application for withdrawal of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of Think and Learn Pvt Ltd (trade name Byju's) needed approval from 90 percent of the Committee of Creditors. A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sanjay Kumar stated that the prayer for interim relief would be considered on the next date of hearing, 21 July 2025. The...

Circular Clarifying Previous Notifications On Fiscal Duty Has Retrospective Effect : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently held that a circular/notification issued by the revenue department, clarifying or explaining a fiscal regulation, has to be given retrospective effect.In the facts of the case at hand, the Court held that a Circular dated 17.09.2010 issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) had to be given retrospective effect as it clarified certain previous notifications on customs duty.It was opined that, being explanatory in nature, the Circular could not be...

S.27 Customs Act Or Doctrine Of Unjust Enrichment Won't Apply To Refund Of Bank Guarantee : Supreme Court Allows Patanjali Plea

The Supreme Court has held that Section 27 of the Customs Act, which requires a person seeking refund of duty to show that the burden was not passed on to the customer, is not applicable when refund is sought of a wrongly invoked bank guarantee.This is because encashment of bank guarantees by the Customs Department cannot be treated as payment of customs duty. Hence, neither Section 27 nor the doctrine of unjust enrichment is applicable. Holding so, the Supreme Court allowed the...

S. 11 SARFAESI Act | DRT Can't Decide Disputes Between Banks Over Secured Assets; Must Be Referred To Arbitration : Supreme Court

In a significant ruling under the SARFAESI Act, 2002 (“Act”), the Supreme Court today (May 23) held that inter-creditor disputes (between secured creditors) must be resolved through arbitration under Section 11 of the Act read with the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”). Unlike the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, which requires a written agreement for reference, Section 11 of the Act creates a statutory mandate for arbitration, eliminating the need for any such...

Supreme Court Upholds Dual Taxation On Broadcasting, Says States Can Levy Entertainment Tax Alongside Centre's Service Tax

While upholding the State's authority to impose entertainment tax on broadcasting services like cable TV, digital streaming, and OTT platforms, the Supreme Court held that both the Centre and the State are empowered to levy service tax and entertainment tax, respectively, on assessees such as cable operators and entertainment service providers.The bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh held that broadcasting constitutes a form of communication, while entertainment falls under the...

Supreme Court Upholds Kerala's Luxury Tax On Cable TV As Constitutionally Valid

The Supreme Court today (May 22) upheld the constitutional validity of the Kerala luxury tax and allowed Kerala's appeal, affirming the state's power to tax cable TV services under Entry 62 of List II (State List) as “luxury.” The Court clarified that the service tax imposed by the Finance Act on broadcasting services under Entry 97 of List I (Union List) does not conflict with state taxes on entertainment, and therefore, no constitutional overlap exists between central and state levies. “in...

Income Tax Act | Supreme Court Clarifies Restriction Under S.80-IA(9) On Claiming Cumulative Deductions Under S.80IA & 80-HHC

Answering a reference, the Supreme Court held that deductions under Sections 80-IA/80-IB of the Income Tax Act need not reduce the gross total income before computing deductions under other provisions like Section 80-HH for export profits.The bench comprising Justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and AG Masih delivered the verdict while answering a reference after a matter was referred to the larger bench due to split verdict in Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax v. Micro Labs Limited...

Supreme Court Issues Notice On Plea Challenging Validity Of S. 50 & 63 Of PMLA On ED's Summoning Powers

A writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional validity of S.50 and S.63 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The plea states that the impugned provisions are violative of Articles 14, 20,21 and 300A of the Constitution. Last week, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih issued notice to the Union on the petition and tagged it with a similar matter (WP(Crl) 65/2023)Notably, S. 50 of the PMLA provides...