High Courts
Gujarat High Court Directs Authority To Consider Kuwaiti Resident's Passport Renewal Plea Put On Hold Over Rash Driving FIR
The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday (November 25) granted relief to an Indian man working in Kuwait, whose application for renewal of passport was put on hold in view of an FIR registered against him for rash and negligent driving at Lunawada police station. The court asked the authorities to process the petitioner's passport renewal plea within 4 weeks after noting that the petitioner is...
Delhi High Court Sets Aside Rejection Of Medilabo's Patent For Neurodegenerative-Disease Drug
The Delhi High Court has set aside a Patent Office order refusing Medilabo RFP's patent application for a pharmaceutical composition used in treating neurodegenerative diseases, holding that the authority rejected the application without examining the amended claims and without explaining how the invention fell within the bar on “methods of treatment” under Section 3(i) of the Patents...
High Court Refuses To Restrain Delhi Race Club From Enforcing 'Family Unit' Cap In Horse Races
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday refused to pass an interim order restraining the Delhi Race Club from enforcing 'family unit' cap qua the number of horses for races for Delhi Meeting 2025-2026. Justice Amit Bansal rejected the interim injunction filed by a horse owner- Ravinder Pal Singh Chauhan in his suit seeking to restrain the Club from enforcing the concept of 'family unit'. He...
Calcutta High Court Rejects Written Statement Filed Beyond 120 Days; Holds Postal Service At Registered Office Valid Under CPC
The Calcutta High Court has held that service of a writ of summons on a company by speed post at its registered office constitutes valid service under Order XXIX Rule 2(b) of the Code of Civil Procedure, thereby triggering the mandatory 120-day period for filing a written statement under the Commercial Courts framework.Justice Aniruddha Roy dismissed NTC Industries Limited's application...
Customs | Oral Waiver Of SCN Untenable In Law, Continued Detention Of Goods Illegal: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that continued detention or seizure of goods by the Customs Department would be untenable in law, where the Show Cause Notice or the personal hearing have been waived via an oral waiver.A division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain was dealing with a challenge to detention of Petitioner's gold chain weighing 54 grams.Briefly put, Petitioner...
Standard Of 'Reason To Believe' In Benami Act Is Stricter Than 'Reasonable Suspicion' Under BNSS: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that the standard of 'reason to believe' prescribed under Section 24 of the Benami Act is higher than 'reasonable suspicion' under Section 35 of BNSS which empowers a police officer to arrest a person for alleged involvement in a cognizable offence.For context, Section 24 of the Prohibition Of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988 empowers an Initiating Officer...
Muslim Man Can't Avoid Maintenance To First Wife Citing Duty To Maintain Second Wife: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court has observed that a Muslim husband who has contracted a second marriage during the subsistence of his first marriage cannot contend that he has no means to maintain his first wife. Dr. Justice Kauser Edappagath, was delivering the judgment in the revision petitions filed by the husband challenging a Family Court order which granted maintenance to the first wife and...
Karnataka High Court Orders Refund Of ₹10 Crore, Says Payment During GST Search Was 'Not Voluntary' U/S 74(5) CGST Act
The Karnataka High Court held that the assessee's payment of Rs. 10 crores could not be treated as a voluntary payment under Section 74(5) of the CGST Act (Central Goods and Services Tax Act), as the DRC-03 shows 'NIL' entries for both interest and penalty. The bench observed that the 'NIL' entries clearly indicated that the payment was made by the assessee under coercion and...
Karnataka High Court Issues Notice On PhonePe's Appeal Against Order Allowing Police To Seek User Details, Transaction Data
The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the State Government on an appeal preferred by digital payment intermediary 'Phonepe', challenging a single judge order which had dismissed its petition questioning a police notice seeking transaction details/ full account credentials of its registered users and merchants, while investigating a criminal case.A division bench of Chief...
Proceedings Under Domestic Violence Act Not Akin To Criminal Prosecution, Magistrate Can Drop Or Revoke Process: J&K&L High Court
The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has clarified that proceedings under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, are not to be equated with the filing of a criminal complaint or initiation of prosecution.The High Court explained that once the trial Magistrate obtains a response from the husband or his relatives, he is empowered to revoke the issuance...
Statement Made Before Customs Officer U/S 108 Customs Act Over Goods Seizure Not Admissible In Evidence: Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court has held that statements made by an assessee to the Customs Department under Section 108 of the Customs Act 1962, upon seizure of its goods, is not admissible as evidence in court of law.“Statements under Section 108 would not be admissible in evidence,” said a division bench of Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Shail Jain.Section 108 deals with the power of customs...
Karnataka High Court Quashes Overnight Removal Of Govt Pleader; Says 'Doctrine Of Pleasure' Not A Licence For Arbitrary Action
The Karnataka High Court has set aside a notification cancelling the appointment of an Additional District Government Pleader within 24-hours of his appointment and appointing another advocate in his place.A single judge, Justice M Nagaprasanna said,“The appointment made is on one day, and undone the next day, within a span of just 24 hours. The petitioner so appointed, as Government...