Punjab and Haryana High Court
Punjab &Haryana High Court Grants Bail To Ludhiana Trader Accused Of ₹9.66 Crore Fake GST ITC Fraud
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has granted regular bail to a Ludhiana-based businessman accused of fraudulently availing Input Tax Credit (ITC) of nearly ₹9.66 crore under the GST regime.It observed that continued incarceration was not justified when the prosecution case was based primarily on documentary evidence.Justice Surya Partap Singh, while deciding the bail plea of Rohit Kumar Gupta, proprietor of Maa Steel, Ludhiana, noted that the petitioner had remained in custody for more than...
IBC Moratorium Won't Extinguish Directors' Criminal Liability For Cheque Bounce: Punjab & Haryana HC
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on 20 July held that the moratorium under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC) cannot extinguish a director's criminal liability for dishonour of cheques issued before commencement of insolvency proceedings against the company. Justice Manisha Batra dismissed a petition filed by Ajay Gupta seeking quashing of proceedings under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 (NI Act) for cheque dishonour, holding that subsequent insolvency and...
AI Tool Has No Sanction In Law To Prepare And Issue GST Show Cause Notice: Punjab & Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently quashed a GST show cause notice after holding that it had been issued primarily by relying upon an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool, the use of which was not shown to have statutory sanction. The challenge was founded on a document annexed to the show cause notice and uploaded on the department's portal. The document referred to various AI-based aids and included suggestions to "Tighten this further with case-law citation paragraph-wise", convert...
Taxpayer Cannot Invoke Section 73(4B) Limitation After Delaying Service Tax Proceedings: P&H High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on 2 July held that the one year period prescribed under Section 73(4B) of the Finance Act, 1994 for passing adjudication orders in cases involving the extended period of limitation is not mandatory in all circumstances and cannot be invoked by a taxpayer whose own conduct caused delay in the proceedings. A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Rohit Kapoor dismissed the appeal filed by Sanjay Verma, an architect and...
Pre-Cognizance Hearing Under BNSS Doesn't Apply In Companies Act Cases: Punjab & Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that companies and individuals prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) under the Companies Act, 2013 are not entitled to a pre-cognizance hearing under the first proviso to Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). It ruled that the Companies Act prescribes a separate procedure for taking cognizance in such prosecutions. Justice Subhas Mehla, who heard a petition filed by Vivo India Private Limited challenging...
Punjab and Haryana High Court Refuses To Interfere With Facebook's Removal Of Song After Copyright Complaint
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently declined to intervene in Meta's removal of a song from a Facebook page. The court noted that the song had been uploaded without the copyright owner's consent. It also found that the page owner had not placed any material on record to dispute that position. Justice Jagmohan Bansal observed that the Facebook page owner had been informed that the song was removed because it was uploaded without the copyright owner's consent. The court further found...
Compromise In Commercial Disputes Warrants Closure Of 138 NI Act Proceedings: Punjab & Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has compounded an offence under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act in a matter between Sunil Kumar and Mukesh Sharma after finding that the parties had voluntarily settled their dispute and the complainant had received the entire settlement amount in full and final satisfaction of his claim. A Bench of Justice Subhas Mehla held that continuation of proceedings in such commercial disputes serves no useful purpose once the settlement is acted upon and...
Punjab & Haryana HC Quashes Canara Bank's Fraud Classification For Failure To Furnish Full Forensic Audit Report
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside Canara Bank's order declaring the borrowers' account as fraudulent. The Court found that the bank had not supplied the complete forensic audit report on which the fraud classification was based. It also found that the bank had not informed the borrowers that any portion of the report was being withheld due to third-party rights. A division bench of Justice Alka Sarin and Justice Ramesh Chander Dimri observed that where a bank seeks to withhold...
Arbitration Act 2015 Amendment To Section 12(5) Cannot Be Applied Retrospectively: Punjab & Haryana High Court
On 29 May, the Punjab and Haryana High Court held that executing courts cannot retrospectively apply the post-2015 neutrality regime under Section 12(5) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, to refuse enforcement of arbitral awards rendered under the law prevailing at the time of the arbitrator's appointment. A Bench of Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri allowed the revision petitions, set aside seven executing court orders, and directed continuation of execution proceedings. It observed: ...
Punjab & Haryana High Court Rules PLC Not Separately Taxable, Sets Aside DLF Advance Ruling Orders
The Punjab and Haryana High Court on 13 May held that Preferential Location Charges (PLC) collected by developers for offering a preferred location within a housing project form part of the composite construction service and cannot attract separate taxation. A Division Bench of Justices Deepak Sibal and Lapita Banerji allowed a writ petition filed by DLF Limited and quashed the Advance Ruling Authority order dated 28 August 2020 and the Appellate Authority for Advance Ruling order dated 28...
RERA Appeal Remedy Cannot Be Bypassed To Avoid Pre-Deposit Requirement: Punjab and Haryana High Court
The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently refused to entertain a real estate developer's challenge to a Haryana RERA refund order, holding that a promoter/developer cannot bypass the statutory appellate remedy merely to avoid the pre-deposit requirement. A Division Bench of Justice Suvir Sehgal and Justice Vikas Suri was hearing a petition filed by Advance India Projects Limited against a Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority order directing it to refund over ₹1.02 crore to two allottees in...
Punjab & Haryana HC Grants Landowners 2013 Act Interest Over Arbitrator Award In Land Acquisition For Highway
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that denying landowners whose compensation is enhanced in arbitration under the National Highways Act the same interest benefits available to similarly placed landowners would be discriminatory and violative of Article 14. Justice Harkesh Manuja held, “In the present case, the learned Arbitrator, by denying parity to identically placed landowners even though only with regard to the interest component of the compensation, has acted arbitrarily and in...