Bombay High Court Refers ₹18.58 Crore Construction Dues Dispute Against Piramal Sunteck Realty To Mediation

The Bombay High Court has referred a ₹18.58 crore construction dues dispute between Oram Realty Pvt Ltd and Piramal Sunteck Realty Pvt Ltd arising out of civil works executed at the Signia Waterfront project in Airoli, Navi Mumbai, to mediation. The court held that the plaintiff failed to establish urgency for bypassing the mandatory pre-institution mediation requirement under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act. Justice Milind N. Jadhav directed the parties to explore mediation while...

Bombay High Court Imposes ₹2 Lakh Costs On L&T Entities Over Suit Challenging Removal As Mumbai Slum Developer

The Bombay High Court has recently imposed costs of ₹2 lakh each on L&T Asian Realty Project LLP and L&T Realty Limited, along with three other applicants, after holding that their pleas seeking rejection of a commercial suit unnecessarily delayed the proceedings and defeated the objective of speedy disposal of commercial disputes. Justice Gauri Godse dismissed the applications filed by the L&T entities, Shiv Infra Vision Pvt Ltd, Portsmouth Buildcon Pvt Ltd and the Chief Executive...

'Bare Possibility Of Confusion' Enough In Pharma Marks: Bombay High Court Restrains Use Of 'ACIPROX'

The Bombay High Court has granted an interim injunction in favor of Alkem Laboratories. It has restrained Numen Pharma Private Limited from manufacturing, selling, or marketing pharmaceutical products under the trademark 'ACIPROX', holding it to be phonetically similar to Alkem's registered mark 'ALCIPRO'. Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh, on June 8, 2026, made absolute the interim application filed by Alkem. The court observed that the company had made out a prima facie case for both trademark...

Bombay High Court Orders No Coercive Action Against Anil Ambani Pending Challenge To Black Money Act

The Bombay High Court on Monday directed that no coercive action, including prosecution or penalty proceedings, be taken against industrialist Anil Ambani pending the final disposal of his writ petition challenging certain provisions of the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. Ambani has challenged certain provisions of the Act as being ultra vires the Constitution of India. A division bench of Justices B.P. Colabawalla and Firdosh P. Pooniwalla...

Patent Illegality Ground Unavailable To Challenge Awards In International Commercial Arbitrations: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has reiterated that an arbitral award arising from an international commercial arbitration seated in India cannot be set aside on the ground of patent illegality. The court held that allegations that an arbitral tribunal ignored evidence or arrived at perverse findings fall within the ground of patent illegality, which is unavailable for challenging such an award. It dismissed Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd.'s challenge to an award in favor of Malaysia-based...

Mere 'Criminal Overtones' Or Claimed 'Public Overtones' Do Not Make Dispute Non-Arbitrable: Bombay High Court

The Bombay High Court has held that a dispute does not become non-arbitrable merely because one side alleges fraud or claims that it has criminal or public overtones. Referring a dispute between television production company Shashisumeet Production Pvt. Ltd. and investor Kuresh R. Kushesh to arbitration, the Court said such allegations, by themselves, do not take the matter outside the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal. "Merely on the ground that there are “criminal overtones” or because a...

Bombay High Court Quashes Awards Against Guarantors Despite IBC Moratorium On Debt

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday held that arbitral awards resulting in enforcement of a debt that has become temporarily unenforceable due to a statutory moratorium run contrary to the fundamental policy of Indian law. The court consequently quashed two awards obtained by Abhyudaya Co-operative Bank against guarantors of insolvency resolution bound Nirmangold Alloys Pvt. Ltd. and Nirmangold Plasttech Pvt Ltd. Justice Sharmila U. Deshmukh held that the arbitral tribunal continued proceedings...

Bombay High Court Holds DIFC Penal Notice And Certificate Satisfy CPC Requirement For Foreign Decree Execution

The Bombay High Court has rejected an objection by two guarantors of a USD 5 million factoring facility to the maintainability of execution proceedings initiated by Malta-based Fimbank P.L.C. to enforce a Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court judgment in India. Justice Abhay Ahuja held that a penal notice issued by the DIFC Court and a subsequent certificate relating to satisfaction of the judgment fulfilled the requirement of a certificate regarding satisfaction or adjustment of...

Bombay High Court Rules Section 18 SARFAESI Pre-Deposit Mandatory, Bars Complete Waiver By DRAT

On 8 June, the Bombay High Court held that borrowers cannot bypass the mandatory pre-deposit requirement under Section 18 of the SARFAESI Act while challenging orders of the Debts Recovery Tribunal, including orders refusing to condone delay, and reiterated that the statute permits only limited reduction of the deposit and not complete waiver. Justices Manish Pitale and Shreeram V Shirsat allowed writ petitions filed by HDFC Bank and auction purchaser Aloukik Construwell LLP and set aside...

Bombay High Court Upholds Award In Paharpur–Siemens Dispute, Reaffirms Limited Scope Of Section 34

On 8 June, the Bombay High Court reiterated that under Section 34 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, courts cannot reappreciate evidence or substitute a plausible view taken by an arbitral tribunal merely because another interpretation of the contract or evidence is possible. Justice Somasekhar Sundaresan dismissed the petition filed by Paharpur Cooling Towers Ltd. and upheld the arbitral award in favour of Siemens Ltd. in its entirety. He held: "In my opinion, this analysis is a...

Bombay HC Denies Lilavati Trust Interim Relief in ₹1000 Crore Defamation Case Against HDFC Bank, CEO

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday refused interim relief to the Lilavati Kirtilal Mehta Trust and its trustee Prashant Mehta in their ₹1,000 crore defamation suit against HDFC Bank, its MD & CEO Sashidhar Jagdishan, and others.The court also imposed costs of ₹5 lakh on the trust and the trustee, payable to HDFC Bank within six weeks.The court held that the bank's impugned statements regarding outstanding dues and alleged vexatious litigation were prima facie supported by material on record...

Bombay HC Refers Tata Capital's ₹36.10 Crore Loan Dispute With Priyanka Communications To Arbitration

On 8 June, the Bombay High Court held that Section 8 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 must be construed liberally to facilitate arbitral reference and cannot be defeated by procedural technicalities such as insisting on a separate application for referral. Justice Abhay Ahuja referred Tata Capital Financial Services Ltd.'s Rs.36.10 crore loan recovery dispute with Priyanka Communications (India) Pvt. Ltd. and its guarantors to arbitration under Clause 21 of the Working Capital...