Transactions Purely Commercial; Public Trust Doctrine Can't Defeat Limitation: Madras HC Dismisses GAIL Appeals In ₹246 Cr Dispute

In an important ruling for the natural gas sector, the Madras High Court Bench of Justices G Jayachandran and Mummineni Sudheer Kumar denied appeals by GAIL (India) Limited against five natural gas supplier companies in arbitrations aggregating to Rs. 246 crores, observing that natural gas transactions are commercial and GAIL could not invoke the public trust doctrine to escape...

RP's Admission Of Claim In Earlier CIRP Amounts To Acknowledgement U/S 18 Limitation Act For Commencement Of Fresh Limitation Period: NCLAT

The NCLAT, Principal Bench, New Delhi, comprising Justice N. Seshasayee (Member-Judicial) and Arun Baroka (Member-Technical), has held that the admission of a financial creditor's claim by a resolution professional during an earlier CIRP amounts to an acknowledgement of debt within the meaning of section 18 of the Limitation Act. Therefore, the said acknowledgement gives the fresh period...

Unenforced Equitable Mortgage Remains Corporate Debtor's Asset, Cannot Be Treated As Margin Money: NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) New Delhi set aside an order passed by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai by which it directed that an amount equivalent to 5% of the value of Foreign Letters of Credit (FLCs), Letters of Credit (LCs), and Bank Guarantees (BGs) be excluded from the total assets of Frost International Limited and be allocated to Bank of India (BOI)...

NCLAT Seeks Replies From Aakash, Others On Byju's Plea To Block Rights Issue

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), Chennai, on Thursday sought replies from Aakash Educational Services Ltd. (AESL) and other respondents in a plea filed by debt-ridden edtech major Byju's (Think and Learn Pvt. Ltd.) seeking to restrain Aakash from proceeding with a proposed rights issue that could dilute its shareholding in the test-prep subsidiary.The right's issue which...

Arbitral Award In One Proceeding Can Be Used As Evidence In Another: Allahabad High Court Upholds ₹126 Cr Award To Adani

The Allahabad High Court has held that an arbitral award given in one proceedings can be used as evidence in other arbitral proceedings, though the weightage given to it may vary on case to case basis.While dealing with an arbitral award of more than Rs. 126 crores in favour of Adani Enterprises Ltd., the bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh held“An Arbitral...

Delhi High Court Dismisses Patanjali Ayurved's Appeal Against Order To Pay ₹48.5 Lakh To Supplier

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal by Patanjali Ayurved Limited against a lower court order that directed the company to pay nearly Rs 48.5 lakh to Ujala Goel, proprietor of Ru Overseas, for goods supplied to it.A bench of Justices V Kameswar Rao and Vinod Kumar while dismissing the appeal however reduced the interest payable on the amount from 15% to 9%. “The appeal...

CESTAT Quashes Excise Duty Demand Against Wipro Over Tamil Nadu Govt's Free Laptop Scheme

The Customs, Excise & Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) in Chennai on Wednesday quashed the excise department's demand for additional duty from Wipro Ltd., ruling that the company's supply of laptops to the Tamil Nadu government for free distribution to students cannot be treated as a commercial sale and therefore cannot be taxed at retail price. A two-member bench comprising...

Casual Absence Of Govt Officials Not “Sufficient Cause” To Condone Delay In Challenging Arbitral Award: HP High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has dismissed an application filed by the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board seeking condonation of delay in filing objections against an arbitral award passed in favour of HCL Infotech Ltd., holding that bureaucratic delays and internal movement of files do not constitute sufficient cause for delay.Rejecting the State's contention, the Court remarked...

GST Levy On Group Health Insurance Policies Challenged; Kerala High Court Grants Interim Relief To Union Bank Pensioners

The Kerala High Court has granted interim relief to retired employees of the Union Bank by allowing them to renew their group health insurance policies without paying the 18% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on the premium.The Court passed the interim order in a writ petition filed by Vinod Mukundan and others, including the All India Union Bank Pensioners & Retirees Federation, challenging...

Compassionate Appointment, Acceptance Of Lower Post Under Financial Distress Doesn't Bar claim For Higher : J&K HC

A Division bench of the J&K HC comprising Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Sanjay Parihar held that the principle of estoppel does not apply when a compassionate appointment to a lower post is accepted under financial duress and immediately challenged by the applicant who possessed the requisite qualifications. Background Facts The applicant's father was working as an...

Customs Act | Excel Sheet Recovered From Assessee's Email Can Be Relied Upon For Valuation Even Without S.138C Certificate: CESTAT

The New Delhi Bench of Customs, Excise, and Service Tax Appellate Tribunal (CESTAT) has held that an Excel sheet recovered from the email account of the assessee can be relied upon to determine the value of imported goods, even without a certificate under Section 138C of the Customs Act, 1962. Section 138C of the Customs Act, 1962 would apply if the information is printed from...

Balco Disinvestment: Delhi High Court Upholds Arbitral Award Voiding Centre & Vedanta Shareholder's Pact

After over a decade of legal tussle, the Delhi High Court recently upheld an arbitral award declaring the Shareholders' Agreement (SHA) between Vedanta Limited (then Sterlite Industries) and the Union of India void, which had given Vedanta the exclusive right to buy the government's remaining 49% stake in Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) after a three-year lock-in period. The...